Fabada Asturiana (Asturian Bean and Chorizo Stew)

Ingredients

• 400 g cannellini beans, soaked overnight in plenty of cold water
• 250 g pork shoulder, in one piece
• 200 g pork belly, in one piece
• 200 g chorizo, left whole
• 2 morcela
• 1 onion, peeled and left whole
• 4 garlic, peeled
• 2 bay leaf
• 1 pinch saffron, crumbled
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1½ l water, cold
• salt to taste
• black pepper to taste

Method

1. 1.

   Start the pot and skim it — Drain the soaked beans and tip them into a wide heavy pot. Add the pork shoulder, pork belly, whole onion, garlic cloves and bay leaves, pour over the cold water so everything sits under about 2 cm of liquid, and bring slowly to a boil, skimming off the grey foam as it rises.

2. 2.

   Simmer low and scare the beans — Turn the heat down until the surface barely shivers. Cook, partly covered, for 1 hour, adding a splash of cold water whenever it threatens to boil hard — that shock is what keeps the bean skins whole. Never stir with a spoon; shake the pot by the handles instead.

3. 3.

   Bloom the paprika and saffron — Warm the olive oil in a small pan, take it off the heat and stir in the smoked paprika and the crumbled saffron so they bloom in the oil without catching. Pour the lot into the pot and nestle the whole chorizo and morcela down among the beans.

4. 4.

   Simmer until the beans turn creamy — Simmer very gently for a further hour and a quarter, until the beans are creamy right through but still whole and the broth has thickened into a light, glossy sauce. Top up with a little hot water if the beans ever come uncovered.

5. 5.

   Slice the meats and let it settle — Lift the meats onto a board. Discard the onion and bay leaves, slice the pork, chorizo and morcela thickly and return them to the pot. Season with salt and black pepper — taste first, the sausages are salty — and let the pot stand off the heat for 10 minutes so the broth settles and binds.

6. 6.

   Serve in deep bowls — Serve very hot in deep bowls, giving everyone a piece of each meat along with plenty of beans and broth. Reheated the next day it is better still.