Fabada Asturiana

---

A classic bean and sausage stew from the Asturias in Spain. Don't be alarmed by the amount of garlic.

Ingredients

• 600 g faba beans
• 100 ml extra vrigin olive oil, or as little as you need to cook the onions and garlic
• 1-2 bulbs of garlic, separated and peeled, but not chopped
• 1 large onion, peeled and quartered
• 1½ litres chicken stock
• 4 chorizo sausages
• 2 morcilla sausages
• 200 g panceta - this should be in a whole piece and not sliced
• 1½ teaspoons sweet paprika, either smoked or unsmoked
• A few strands of saffron, crushed
• Finely chopped parsley

Method

1. Soak the beans overnight. Drain and rinse.
2. Heat the oil in a large saucepan and gently fry the garlic and onions until they are slightly golden.
3. Add the sausages, panceta, beans and chicken stock to the saucepan.
4. Cook slowly and when it starts to foam, add the paprika and saffron.
5. Continue cooking slowly for about two and a half hours, checking regulary that the saucepan is not running out of liquid. Add more water as and when necessary, making sure that the beans are covered at all times.
6. Remove from the heat and let it stand until cool.
7. Remove the sausages and panceta, cut them into 1 cm pieces and return them to the pan.
8. Re-heat and serve in bowls, sprinkled with the parsley.

Variations

If you particularly like morcilla, you can substitute an extra one for one of the chorizos. Pieces of pork shoulder can be included as well.

Chef's tip

Try to get "fabas a la granja" which are obtainable from specialist Spanish food shops. If you really cannot get them, then use white kidney or haricot beans, although their texture is not the same.

Panceta is widely available, but it must be a whole piece. Substitute it with a piece of streaky bacon if you can only find sliced panceta. The chorizos and morcillas should be slightly larger than a thick British sausage.

For those watching their weight or health, please be warned that this dish is rather fatty. The morcilla, expecially, can shrink to almost half its uncooked size. Although not authentic, you could grill the sausages first to reduce the amount of fat and drain off the olive oil once the onions and garlic are golden.