Home-Baked Beans

Every time I make these beans I get a recipe request so what the hell, I might as well share it this way.

Ingredients

800g dried mixed beans (usually Butter, Kidney, Pinto & Black-eyed)
1 Litre Passata
1 tbsp Tomato Puree
2 medium onions
1 Bell Pepper
150g Mushrooms
1 bulb Garlic
1 mild Chilli
1 Habanero Chilli
2 tsp Smoked Paprika
2 tsp Paprika
1 tsp Cayenne Pepper
1 tsp Chilli Powder
1 tsp Cumin
1/2 tsp Garlic Salt
2 tsp Cajun or Mexican spice mix
1 tbsp Black Treacle or Molasses
1 tbsp Honey
Olive Oil
Salt & Pepper

Method

1. Leave the beans to soak in cold water overnight
2. Rinse the beans and boil for 15–20 minutes
3. Add olive oil to a cast iron pot suitable for the oven and pre-heat
4. Peel garlic and onions, crush the garlic and buzz them up in a food processor until very finely chopped
5. Fry them in the olive oil for about 5 minutes
6. De-seed bell pepper and chillis and buzz them in the food processor as per the onions. Be careful not to liquidise them.
7. Add them to the onions & garlic and fry for another 2–3 minutes.
8. Buzz up the mushrooms and add them to the pot for another 2 minutes
9. Add Passata and bring to a boil
10. Add the spices, garlic salt, honey and treacle
11. Add salt and pepper to your preference
12. Drain the beans, add them to pot and mix in well
13. Bring everything to the boil again
14. Securely cover the pot and bake in a low oven (150 C max) for 4 hours or so. Check it every hour or two to make sure they haven’t baked dry — if looking too dry, add a bit more water and stir.

They’ll keep in a sealed container in the fridge for about a week — this is usually how we use them. We’ll just dip into the container for burritos, to add to Bolognese to make chilli, dilute with water to make soup or spread on toast for beans on toast. They are pretty versatile. They also freeze pretty well.

Baked beans are also incredibly cheap. I get dried beans in Asian markets for around 8 euro for a 2 kilo bag — you can make a huge pot of beans that will feed about 15 people for around 5 euro. I store them in sealed bags or tubs and have used beans that are several years old with no ill effects.