Boston baked beans
By Birgitta
Far, far greater than the sum of its parts, this hotpot of white beans and bacon is enhanced with little more than sugar and a few spices. The result is rich, complex and satisfying. It's adaptable, too. You could use cannellini, kidney or borlotti beans instead of haricot, say, or chunks of chorizo instead of the belly pork. Leave out the tomatoes, too, if you prefer.
Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall
- 8
Ingredients
- 500 g dried white haricot beans, soaked in plenty of cold water overnight
- 400 g piece of salt pork, pancetta or unsmoked streaky bacon
- 50 g soft brown sugar
- 3 tbsp black treacle
- 1 tbsp English mustard
- 200 g chopped tomatoes (ie 1/2 a tin)
- 4 cloves
- 8-10 pickling onions, peeled but left whole (or 2-3 small onions, cut into quarters)
- Salt and black pepper
Preparation
Step 1
Drain and rinse the beans, then put them in a flameproof casserole with enough fresh water to cover by about 5cm. Bring to the boil and cook hard for 10 minutes. Lower the heat to a simmer, cover and cook for about an hour, until the beans are tender but not completely soft (you may need to top up the water once or twice). Remove from the heat.
Preheat the oven to 140C/275F/gas mark 1. Cut the bacon into 5cm cubes, leaving the rind on, and add to the beans. Stir in the sugar, treacle, mustard and tomatoes. Press a clove into four of the pickling onions and add these, along with the other onions. Season with pepper, but no salt at this stage - the bacon will make it salty. If necessary, add a little hot water so the beans are just covered
Cover and bake for about three hours, then remove the lid and stir, dragging some of the bacon chunks to the top. Return to the oven, uncovered, for another hour - this helps to brown the bacon and thicken the sauce.
Check the seasoning, then serve the beans just as they are with some crusty bread (or on toast) as a light meal or with rice or mashed potatoes for something more substantial. They will keep in a sealed container in the fridge for up to two weeks.