Home Made Baked Beans

Doug Sherring

Try Indian, Asian and Mediterranean food warehouses or organic wholefood shops for a good range of dried beans.

Ingredients

2	Onions
2	Garlic cloves
2 Tbsp	Tomato paste
1	Bacon hock
4 cans	Cannellini beans (Main)
4 cans	Canned tomatoes
2	Bay leaves
2 Tbsp	Worcestershire sauce
2 Tbsp	Malt vinegar
2 Tbsp	Soy sauce
3 Tbsp	Molasses

Directions

1. Finely dice medium onions and garlic cloves.
2. Cook in oil until soft, then add tomato paste.
3. Add a pork or ham hock (such as you would use for soup). Add 4 cans of drained, rinsed beans - cannellini, butterbeans, haricot or navy beans are all fine.
4. If using dried beans, soak a white variety and cook as above. You need about 1.5kg of cooked weight.
5. Strain tinned tomatoes (mash if whole), add to the pot. Add 1 can of water, bay leaves, worcester sauce, malt vinegar and the soy sauce.
6. Add molasses, or maple syrup or treacle if you cannot find molasses. Simmer on the top of the stove until well combined (it will be quite soupy).
7. Transfer to a baking dish and put into a moderate oven, uncovered, for 1.5 hours.
8. You will need to stir occasionally and may need to top up with some water or the juice you strained from your tomatoes.
9. The dish is ready when the meat is falling from the bone and the mixture is a gloopy consistency. Shred the meat into the mixture.
10. Serve on toast. Leftovers can be frozen in portions for future use.