This bean ragout is a robustly flavoured dish containing smoked pork, sausage and tomato. I suggest using dried beans if you can, to avoid additives, but canned beans will work fine at a pinch. Feel free to choose any type of dried beans: pinto beans, white or kidney beans, or any other you can obtain are suitable for this ragout.
Ingredients:
- 300 g (~2/3 lb) dried beans (white, pinto, kidney or what you have)
- 300 g (~2/3 lb) precooked, smoked boneless pork, diced
- 150 g (~1/3 lb) smoked sausage, sliced
- 1 tbsp lard
- 1 big onion, thinly sliced
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1/2 tsp caraway seeds
- 2 tsp smoked paprika
- 1 bay leaf
- 200 ml (~1 cup) stock
- 1 liter (~4 cups) tomato juice
- 1-2 tbsp finely chopped parsley leaves
Soak dried beans overnight. The following day cook them in a pot of salted water until almost tender. Drain and set aside.
Heat lard in a sauté pan, add diced smoked pork and sear until it gets some colour. With a slotted spoon remove the meat, put sausage in the pan and fry until it starts to release fat. Add onions and garlic, season with pepper and caraway seeds, and sauté until translucent. Stir in smoked pork, dried beans, smoked paprika and bay leaf, pour in stock and tomato juice. Adjust salt. Bring it to a boil and cook over medium heat for 30-35 minutes until soft and tender, and beans soak up most of the liquid. Turn off the heat and stir in finely chopped parsley leaves.
