White Bean Stew

I didn't want to call this a Fabada Asturiana because I lacked so many of the ingredients. To start with I didn't have fava beans! To make it more authentic, add Morcilla and pork belly to the ingredients below.


Ingredients I used

1 lb white beans,
2 Spanish Chorizo links,
1 Chunk of ham (sorry for the approximation)
2 tbsp olive oil
1 big onion, chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 bay leaf,
1 teaspoon of red sweet paprika
salt.


Soak the beans overnight (cover with enough water to double the height of the beans)

Rinse the beans and place in a pot covered once again with water to double the height. Bring to a boil. Add the chorizo, ham, onions, garlic, bay leaf and olive oil. Add the paprika. I added salt at the end since the ham and chorizo are salty. Turn the heat to medium low and let it simmer for 3 to 4 hours. If the heat is too high you lose too much liquid and have to add water as needed. The beans should be tender. I left mine more watery or soup-like, but you can let it reduce further.

From the Garden

This was our first garden, and we can't complain. We had plenty of tomatoes, cucumbers, onions and peppers.  I managed to make quite a few batches of tomato sauce, spaghetti sauce and stewed tomatoes. Roma tomatoes were best for making sauces although I used whatever was ripe at the time, and my potted herbs provided additional flavor.

I've been rather lazy about taking pictures, so I will link to a recipe for stewed tomatoes from last year. Click here.