This dish is a variation of a fabada which is an asturian dish (from Asturia Spain) which combines common or ingredients into a bean dish. These were family subsistence meals where in one pot you can feed many people and stretch the budget. The main ingredient is the bean. I bought some very large dried white beans "alubias judion" from
La Tienda.
I soaked the beans overnight, and was a little worried as some of them split in half, some others lost their husk
but I got over it, after chatting with my mother and asking her if I should peel the beans or what. She told me to leave them alone. (mother is always right)
I then got my ingredients in order
One onion
2 bunches of green onion
one whole head of garlic
2 bay leaves
1 tbsp of thyme
2 tbsp of pimenton (smoked paprika) sweet
2 morcilla links (blood pudding sausage)
1 piece of
hard cured chorizo
strand of soft
non cured chorizo
1 piece of salt cured ham (
prosciotto or serrano)
1 large slice of head cheese (I made this)
1 large slice of
cured pork loin (la tienda)
1/2 cup of roasted red pepper
1 tbsp of capers
black pepper to taste
I cut a large piece of ham off my
La Quercia Paleta
and began to render it in some olive oil in a large stock pot
I then added the onions, bay leaves and green onions and sauteed till only slightly brown
I added
the morcilla to brown it and render some fat but then removed it so it wouldn't burst in the stew
I made a puree of roasted red peppers with capers by using an immersion blender and adding a bit of water.
then blended to form a sauce
at this point I added the pimenton to the onions sauteed quickly as it will burn and then added the pepper puree to deglaze the pan
I let it cook for a minute or two then added the beans and the meats
I added water to cover it all as well as the whole head of garlic and returned the morcilla to the pan
I cooked it for 4 hours which was when the beans were tender. I actually let it cool and placed it in the fridge at this point to let the flavors meld. The next day (what is this day 3 of this dish!) I blanched some kale
and added it to the beans as they reheated. The finished product was spectacular. the beans are soft but not mush, they retain their individuality, the pork flavor is perfect with the ham retaining it's flavor and melding with the head cheese and chorizo with the morcilla being perfect. The Kale adds some nice color and contrast. If you have the time I highly reccomend trying this or a variation on this dish.
I've got plenty of leftovers (as usual) so i'll be working my way through it.
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