Bean 'n' Bacon soup

[Guest]

When I was banged up in Alhurin we used to get this bean and bacon soup and it was delicious. Does anyone have a recipe for this?

[lis48]

Buy it in a tin and then add lots more chorizo, chopped onion and another tin of chickpeas. What's served as tapas in the ventas is usually from a tin these days. Sad that.

[silver]

Could have been fabada, the bean are large and white a bit like butter beans they are cooked with a special smoked bacon, chorizo and morcilla (black pudding) from Asturias..you can find recipes on line. There are many other "potajes" (dont know the name in English ) made with all kinds of beans, chic peas and lentils, that come dry and are soaked overnight before cooking with vegtables, chorizos, fish or shell fish.

[brenda]

4 x Red peppers
2 x Onions
Fresh herbs
I x Large jar Red or White Beans (or fresh soaked overnight)
1 x pack chopped bacon bits or 4 x Rashers coarsely chopped
1 x teaspoon Andaluz Smoked Paprika
2 litres Chicken or Beef Stock

Boil all ingredients (except half of beans) for 20 minutes. Liquidise then bring back to boil + add remaining Beans. Serve hot with crusty bread.

[Guest]

Thanks Brenda, that sound exactly right. If I buy the beans in a jar do I still need to soak them over night, if so is it just plain water ?

Thanks again

[brenda]

No need to soak if in jar

[brenda]

Sorry - error in recipe! Don´t add bacon until remaining ingredients have been liquidised - add at same time as remaining half of beans.

Recipe also lovely if you add a sliced/diced Morcilla and Chorizo at the same time as bacon and half beans.

[El Cid]

Recipe also lovely if you add a sliced/diced Morcilla and Chorizo at the same time as bacon and half beans.

If you do that it becomes a Fabada!

The best dish in Spain!

Sid

[lis48]

Noticed today in Carrefour a fabada mix! Packet of chorizo, morcilla, bacon ahumado and hueso de jamon for 3 euros. All you need to is fry the onions, garlic and pepper and throw in the meat all chopped up with a jar of chickpeas. Add seasoning, paprika etc.

[El Cid]

Those packs are pretty good. To make the authentic version you need to make sure that the sausages are Asturian smoked versions - a much stronger flavour. You shouldn't need too much extra seasoning as it all comes from the sausages.

It is always better if you make it the slow way with dried beans, the bottled ones can go a bit soggy by the time the meat is cooked. A pressure cooker works well with Fabada.

Do not chop the sausages - they will disintegate. Cook them whole having pricked them all over and then cut them into slices before serving.

By the way, fabada uses beans not chick peas, in fact they should be the larger type more like butter beans. They are called Fabes - hence the name of the dish.

Sid

[lis48]

cook whole and cut them into slices before serving

Thanks Sid. I'll do that next time as I wondered why mine disintegrated! Agree about the chickpeas, just wanted to make it simpler for people and didn't know the English for fabes.

[El Cid]

Fabes are not so easy to find - just use Alubias Blancas instead - they are just a bit smaller.

Sid

[silver]

chick peas (garvanzos) are not" fabes"..as I said before they are a large white bean, but not as big as a butter bean..they are expensive but worth it and can be found in El Corte Ingles gormet department and some other shops..they sometime are sold in a cloth bag...they are expensive and some use any other white beans as a substitute...but "fabes" are really the best for making fabada...the tin ones are no good for this recipe as the smoked sausages need a lot of cooking time and the tin ones would mash up and fall to pieces. Those fabada mix packs are pretty good. These are the only ingredients involved in this particular dish..no onions or peppers. I have no idea what the other recipe is called..there are dozens of bean recipes.

[silver]

For those who wish to try fabada and cant find the beans, mercadona sell a good alternative called "alubia granja" these should be soaked over night then (like all dried beans)boiled in water for 5/10mins drained then put into fresh hot water and simmer with the rest of the ingredients, until bean is soft.

[El Cid]

I was in Eroski today and they had a large selection of "real" beans and pulses.

They had some real Asturian Fabes - yours for only 16 euros a kilo!

I will go with Silver and buy the Granjas from Mercadonna.!

Sid