FABADA ASTURIANA
Bean and Meat Stew from Asturias
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 lb dry fabes or dry good quality Great Nothern beans
- 1/2 lb chorizos or about 5 small links
- 1/2 lb slab of pancetta
- 1/2 lb ham hock
- 2/3 cup olive oil divided
- 1 tsp sweet pimentón de la Vera
- 1/2 tsp saffron threads
- 2 Tbs butter
- 1 medium onion
- 4 to 5 cups chicken stock
- Soft water or mineral water
Instructions
- Place the fabes in a stockpot, cover with water and let them soak overnight.
- The next day, place the fabes in a heavy stockpot or cast iron casserole, cover with mineral water completely, add 1/3 cup olive oil and the butter and cook at high heat.
- Fill a saucepan with water and cook the ham for about 1 hour (you can cook the whole ham hock, or just the a chunk of its most meaty part).
- Place the saffron threads close to the heat source so they toast slightly.
- In a diffrent saucepan, boil the chorizo and panceta for 5 minutes. Remove the meat from the water and add to the fabes (this process eliminates some of the fat in the chorizo and panceta). Cover and cook at high heat for about 10 minutes.
- Warm up the chicken stock and add it to the fabes. Add the saffron threads and remove the casserole from the heat.
- Chop the onion finely. In a small skillet, heat the remaining oilve oil and sauté the onion. Add the pimentón and sauté with the onion, 1 minute.
- Add the onion “sofrito” to the casserole with the fabes, season with sea salt and cook at low heat for 1 hour, then remove the chorizo and reserve. Cook for an extra 2 hours, or until the fabes become tender. At this point, add the chorizo back to the casserole. Let the dish rest for about 1 hour.
- To serve, shred the ham into small pieces and slice the chorizo into 1/4 inch thick slices. Serve alongside the beans in shallow plates.
Notes
Following the steps and tips of Marcos Morán’s recipe, I’ve adjusted it to the American household (or should I say my American household), given the unavailability of certain Spanish ingredients.
- While I had the fabes imported from Asturias, these were dry fabes, and not the fresh ones Morán uses, so the cooking times were considerably longer.
- Morcilla, blood sausage, is another ingredient I didn’t include in my recipe, because I can’t find in this part of the world.
- Morán uses a slab of pancetta, while I had the sliced one (a slab of pancetta is easy to find, though).
- Instead of lacón I sourced a ham hock with lots of meat attached to the bone.