Читать книгу The New English Table: 200 Recipes from the Queen of Thrifty, Inventive Cooking - Rose Prince - Страница 42

Baked Beans with Bacon, Molasses and Tomato

The nation’s favourite canned meal was once a pottage, which was exported to the Americas by early settlers and became Boston baked beans – a dish of salt pork and haricot beans sweetened with molasses (but not tomatoes, which I have added here to keep up with modern tradition). An earthenware pot or cast-iron casserole with a well-fitting lid prevents the beans and sauce drying out during cooking. Try to find good bacon – dry-cured from naturally reared pork will let a gentle meaty flavour seep into the beans.

Serves 4

175g/6oz white haricot or navy beans

4 tablespoons cold-pressed sunflower oil (or extra virgin olive oil)

2 thick slices of green (unsmoked) back bacon

1 onion, finely chopped or grated

1 garlic clove, finely chopped

200ml/7fl oz passata (puréed tomatoes)

1 dessertspoon molasses

1 tablespoon English mustard

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

sea salt

Soak the beans in plenty of water overnight or for 24 hours, then drain.

Preheat the oven to 150°C/300°F/Gas Mark 2. Heat the oil in a casserole and add the bacon, onion and garlic. Cook over a medium heat until soft. Add the beans, then the passata, plus enough water to cover the beans by 3cm/1¼ inches. Add the molasses and bring up to a simmer. Cover, place in the oven and bake for about 3 hours, until the beans are tender. You may need to add more water to prevent them drying out. About half an hour before you eat, add the mustard and Worcestershire sauce. Finally, add a little salt to bring out the flavour of the beans. Eat with fried eggs or any type of hot sausage, including black pudding.