Smoky baked beans

Name: Smoky baked beans recipe
Yield: 4
Ingredients: 1 smoked chorizo sausage, skin removed, finely diced; 20.00 ml olive oil; 1 onion, finely diced; 2 garlic cloves, roughly chopped; 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin; 1/2 teaspoon sweet paprika; 1 dried ancho chilli, finely sliced (optional); 2 x 400 g (14 oz) tins whole peeled tomatoes; 2 teaspoons tomato paste (concentrated purée); 1 teaspoon brown sugar; 1 teaspoon salt flakes; 2 x 400 g (14 oz) tins cannellini beans, drained and rinsed; 4 eggs; Finely chopped parsley, to serve; Warm toast, to serve

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Smoked baked beans. Images and text from In Praise of Veg and The Little Box of Veg by Alice Zaslavsky, photography by Ben Dearnley.

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by Alice Zaslavsky

AUTHOR

Aug 16, 2023

"Is there anything more satisfying than having some flavour-packed baked beans to look forward to for breakfast? These fully loaded baked beans take advantage of paprika-laden chorizo sausage, as well as the piquancy of tomatoes, to offer a warming bowl of beans that are much grander than the sum of their parts (which, let’s face it, simply involves opening a few tins and stirring ). If you’d prefer to go chorizo-free, that’s totally cool – just up the olive oil, paprika and cumin factor and we’ll call it square." Images and text from In Praise of Veg and The Little Box of Veg by Alice Zaslavsky, photography by Ben Dearnley. Murdoch Books RRP $65.00/RRP $29.99

1 smoked chorizo sausage, skin removed, finely diced
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 onion, finely diced
2 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon sweet paprika
1 dried ancho chilli, finely sliced (optional)
2 x 400 g (14 oz) tins whole peeled tomatoes
2 teaspoons tomato paste (concentrated purée)
1 teaspoon brown sugar
1 teaspoon salt flakes
2 x 400 g (14 oz) tins cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
4 eggs
Finely chopped parsley, to serve
Warm toast, to serve

Method

1.

Fry the chorizo in an ovenproof pan until it starts to release some bright orange oil. Pour in the olive oil, add the onion and stir well to combine, then pop a lid on and sweat for at least 10 minutes, or until translucent.
2.

Stir in the garlic, cumin, paprika and chilli, if using. Add the tomatoes, tomato paste, sugar and salt, breaking the tomatoes into chunks using a wooden spoon. Bring to a simmer.
3.

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F). Stir the beans into your tomato mixture and allow the flavours to meld as the oven heats up. Pop the pan into the oven and bake, uncovered, for 10 minutes.
4.

Remove from the oven and use a wooden spoon to make 4 holes in the mixture. Crack in the eggs, then bake for a further 5–6 minutes, or until the egg whites are white and the yolk is par-cooked (it will finish cooking in the residual heat).
5.

Scatter with parsley and serve hot, with toast.

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Recipe Notes

Tip
Most white beans will work in this recipe, but if you can get your hands on some Spanish pochas beans, give them a whirl – their flavour is just unbeatable in this dish.

Shortcut
A tin of baked beans can be spruced up with herbs, spices and chilli in this same way. Look for ones that aren’t too high in added sodium and sugars.