richard Relax, these are obviously middle-class baked beans which involve overnight soaking, an hour and a half in the oven and plenty of extra virgin olive oil.
Preparation time: 10 minutes + overnight soaking
Cooking time: 1.5 hours
Skill level: easy
Serves: 2
Ingredients
For the Baked Beans
- dried pinto beans – enough for 2 (about 150g)
- 1 bulb of garlic
- sprig of parsley
- 1 large or several small tomatoes
- olive oil
- s & p
For the Toast
- good bread – 2 slices
- garlic – 1 clove
- 2 very ripe tomatoes
- 2 dried chillies
- oregano
- olive oil
- s & p
Soak your beans in water overnight (with 1 change of water)
Pre-heat the oven to 200c (gas mark 6)
Put the soaked beans, whole garlic bulb, tomato(es) and parsley in a ceramic oven-proof dish. Pour over some water until the beans are covered to a depth of 1cm and then drizzle with olive oil.
Cover with tin foil and pierce with 2 small holes to allow some of the steam out.
Put in the oven and bake for an hour and a half.
Remove from the oven and discard the parsley. Squeeze the pulp out of the tomato(es) and discard the skin. Squash the garlic with a wooden spoon to squeeze out the juice and then discard.
Season with salt and pepper and mix everything together.
Toast some bread. Scrape topside with garlic and then squeeze/rub over the ripe tomato.
Sprinkle with crushed dried chilli and oregano and then drizzle with olive oil.
Season and spoon over the baked beans.
Eat and be happy.
Verdict: A great weekend brunch treat. Better than Heinz. Delicious. Experiment with different bean/herb combos.
Drink: A milky k4e.
Entertainment: Test Match Special on 5Live. Tuffers was off to the O2 to see Lady Gaga.
Cheers Richard.. enjoyed the Haricot and tinned tom combi on weekend. I nearly asked for the “Daddys” but thought better of it.
Hi Tony, it’s a pleasure. You, like all our readers, are welcome to stay anytime. We are too middle class for Daddies – we prefer Oxford Sauce.
Until the next time.
R
Looks like I’ll bring my own Daddies next time 🙂
Next time?
I soaked my beans over night, like a good middle-class citizen, however, I did forget to get up in the night and change the water, and further, for some unknown reason I decided to put the soaking beans in the fridge…
The result (cooked the following day by a Frenchman), was that even after 2 hours cooking they were a bit fluffety in the middle, suggestive of a lack of soakage. I also used coriander instead of parsley because I picked up the wrong bunch in the shop… All in all it was good, especially with the naughty mid-week lunchtime glass of rosé de Provence. I just need to practise my soaking.