When in England we get to enjoy a wide variety of different foods that we wouldn’t normally have access to in Spain. Sometimes though, we long for the taste of our other home. If we lived in London, it would be easier to get hold of some of the more authentic ingredients to recreate certain dishes, outside of London it’s a bit trickier. Sometimes, London or not, you can’t get hold of them at all.
Our beloved Fabada, from the north of Spain, is one dish that it’s particularly tricky to replicate exactly without the traditional beans and smoked meats. No matter, we make do and end up with a delicious variation of the original. Fusion cooking? No….we’re not that trendy! Make do and mend? You bet!
This is a dish you need to plan in advance (especially if you are going to use dried beans which will need soaking overnight). It tastes even better the day after you’ve made it, so is a great one to prepare ahead, or use the slow cooker.
In Spain, this style of dish using dried beans is called a Potaje (pronounced po-tah-heh) which is similar to the French word Potage and the old English word Pottage. All three dishes seem to have much in common with each other as well as the name – do check out the links if you have time.
Ingredients (to serve 6 as a main course)
- 500g mixed dried beans, soaked overnight
- 6 fresh chorizo sausages
- 4-6 slices of pork belly
- A length of black pudding (or morcilla or boudin noir) about 25cm in length
- 2 bay leaves
- ½ teaspoon of saffron (or turmeric)
- 1 teaspoon of smoked pimentón
- Salt (smoked if you can get it)
- Water
Cover the soaked beans with plenty of cold water and bring to a fast boil. Boil hard for 10 minutes, skimming off any froth that appears on the surface.
Now add the rest of the ingredients except the salt, and bring back to the boil. You can now either put the whole thing into a slow cooker and cook on low for about 8-10 hours, simmer on the stove top for about 2 hours or cook on low in the oven for 4 hours. Make sure you use a dish which has a lid.
When the cooking time is up, test the beans. They should be soft and creamy, even a little mushy. Season to taste. When you are about to serve, put the pot back onto the stove top (transfer to another pot if you used the slow cooker) and return to a fast boil for about 5 minutes. The liquid will turn from a clearer state to cloudy, and thicken at the same time.
Slice the pork belly and black pudding into smaller pieces and serve each person with beans, a chorizo and some pork belly and black pudding. A final drizzle of fresh, fruity olive oil over each dish will really lift the flavour. A perfect dish for a hearty lunch on a cold day.
If you like this kind of dish, why not check out this dish of Pork Shanks with Giant Beans
Chica Andaluza 
Perfect winter dish!
It is indeed J
What a temptress you are! 🙂 🙂
It was unintentional – am laughing with embarassment!
Have managed to crop the photo (ouch)!
So you have 🙂 I wasn’t offended by your sausage 🙂 🙂
Phew!
You get me every time Ms Chica…I am trundling through my RSS Feed Reader posts loading them up and half asleep as usual and suddenly I see a post titled “Mixed bean, Pork and Sausage Hot Pot” and I think to myself in my half addled state “why the HECK am I following this site?!” and then I realise it is you and it all comes back to me…the fun, the joy, the excitement of relocating, the palpable honesty and optimism and did I mention the joy? Who cares about meat laden posts when you have Ms Chica in her pinny waving her jam laden wooden spoon in the air whilst manipulating a joint of pork in a most sensuous way. So you can count yourself one of the only non vegan blogs in my motley crew Ms Chica. “Bring on the sausages!” Ce la vie! 🙂
You must be the most meat tolerant vegan in the world and I love you for it 🙂 PS. Have changed the rude phto!
That was the best bit of the post! ;). Yeah, I have given up trying to please the vegan confraturnity. I am drummed in and out and in and out more often than a mad mans breakfast when it comes to what I do at any given time. I am bolshie enough to not give a damn and if I want to inhabit sausage loving rude photography sites I bleeding well will! “Can you hear the drums Franando… they are getting louder now they come to drum you out…”(sung loudly and tonelessly to the great ABBA hit which shows just how old I really am 😉 ) yet again, on the outside peering myopically in 😉
I will happily lend you my varifocals so that you can continue peering in!!
This sounds like just the comforting meal I need.
Have a beautiful day Tanya.
🙂 Mandy xo
Thanks Mandy – and for not saying anything about my photo 😉
Ohhh, I missed the rude sausage! 😉 How funny! I love the idea of how long this hearty soup/stew cooks for… and how melt in the mouth the meat and beans must be!
I had to remove the rude sausage for fear of outraging the WordPress community! Slow cooked dishes like this are great after a long working day J
Apparently the Jews from Spain took American white beans to France for Cassoulet, which makes me wonder if Potaje is related…
Yours sounds delicious – I’ve just eaten out but I wouldn’t mind some beans and I have a Morcilla de Burgos in the fridge (though I might use that with pheasant) 🙂
Ooh – interesting about the beans travelling to France. Don’t put your Morcilla in a bean dish! The one from Burgos is so fantastic it would get lost in it! And talking of Burgos, I watched the film which was on the BBC called The Way, about el Camino de Santiago. Have you seen it? I thought it was incredible but the Burgos link is they stop there for the night and film a long scene in a lovely bar/restaurant where Big Man and I ate (and they let us bring the pups in where they sat under the table and behaved like perfect Victorian children!). Great film, wonderful scenery.
Yes I’ve got that film, a friend of mine did the pilgrimage. Burgos looked amazing! Tarta de Santiago is Jewish passover cake that’s been adopted into Galician cuisine.
I love that you know all these things! Giovanna of Blue Jelly Beans did a recipe for it a year or so ago – still haven’t made it though 😦
That’s a recent discovery by Claudia Roden. I think it’s fairly simple and looks lovely if you cut out a cross of St. James and sprinkle icing sugar on top to leave an imprint. It’s a good one to serve to English guests with Pedro Ximénez 😉
I need to make it!
Your mum and dad will love it 😉
Pork and beans has appeared on quite a few blogs in the past few days and one can sense the weather cooling up your way . . . I DO love your variation tho’: happen to be very partial to black pudding, marvellous whatever name you give it . . . but I also love the luxurious touch of saffron. Oh yes, the turmeric container will be lost ‘on purpose’ to get to ‘that’ perfection in taste and smell 🙂 !!!! Lovely . . .
Yes, I think in the northern hemisphere our thoughts are turning to dishes like this! The saffron really does lend a lovely touch to the dish but in Spain I know that most home cooks use food colouring (yuk) L
I love meals like this one. We do not get black pudding here sadly. Have a super day 🙂
What a shame but you have lots of other lovely things that we can’t get. Have a great day too!
This looks lovely but I would have to convince the family on the bean front! Hope you’re having a great day!
Ah what a shame they are not keen on beans – we love them here!
I love make ahead meals; whether for the work week or for having friends over. And I love to serve homey, comfort meals to my friends. Some wine, crusty bread…I’m very much into this recipe!!
It’s perfect prepare ahead food – so that you can either not worry about cooking after work, or if you’re entertaining you can spend time with your guests!
Mmmmm! Looks sort of vaguely cassoulet-ish – love me some beans!
You’re right – very similar to cassoulet!
This sounds so flavorful, Tanya and my husband loves blood sausage. He always gets it at least once when we are in Germany.
Ooh German blood sausage must be amazing!
This looks like a delicious bowl of comfort food! Especially now that it is starting to get cold, windy and all around blustery! Will be trying this one soon.
It’s most definitely comfort food!
This looks SOOO good!
Thank you!
yummmy……
iit looks tasty. but unfortunatellt i can non eat pork
I understand…
is unfortunate but not why I still like your article