Spanish beans with chorizo & eggs - video

This is an OMG dish! High in protein, fibre, flavor and nourishment, this dish ticks all the boxes. I fell in love with Spanish beans when they were first served to me in a little cast iron pan one summer brunch at a café at Mount Maunganui. I guess I’ve always been a legume lover, in fact being the great 70’s child I was my favourite food as a child was Baked Beans.

My children have never been served a tinned baked bean at home so here’s my version of this classic kiwi staple, with some healthy and mature taste-bud twists!

Recipe

Ingredients:

2 cups of dried white Haricot beans, soaked for 24 hours, drained and rinsed well

2 Bay leaves 750ml tomato puree

1 litre of chicken stock

4 tsp. smoked Hungarian paprika

½ tsp. cayenne pepper, to taste

2 tsp. dried rosemary

2 stalks fresh rosemary

4 cloves of garlic, chopped

2 red onions, diced

1 tbs. butter

1 tsp. dried cumin

1 tsp. dried cinnamon

1 tbsp. molasses

1 tbsp. apple cider vinegar

4 chorizo sausage

Handful of fresh Italian parsley

Method:

1. Gently fry the onions until translucent, then add the garlic and continue cooking for until for 1 minute.

2. Add the paprika, cumin, cinnamon and cayenne pepper and fry for one minute while stirring.

3. Add all the ingredients to your slow cooker and cook for 8 to 12 hours on low heat until beans are tender.

4. Remove the bay leaves and rosemary stalks.

5. Cooked the chorizo sausage in a frying pan, slice on an angle and stir through beans. You may also choose to serve this to the side or on top.

6. Place 1 cupful of hot beans into ovenproof ramekins (about 400ml capacity). 7. Make a well and crack an egg into it and oven bake at 180 C until egg white is cooked but yolk still runny. (About 5-6 mins) Be careful not to overcook and be aware that the egg will continue to cook in the hot beans. It’s best to leave the yolk slightly runny! Overcooking the egg will result in a rubbery texture.

Serve immediately.

Note: This mixture will keep for several days. You can also bottle or freeze. Another serving suggestion for guest would be to place beans into a large ovenproof serving platter and crack enough eggs for each guest within and bake as one dish. Then remove from oven and top with your fresh parsley and crusty sourdough bread, this is simply delish.