The beautiful region of asturias in Spain celebrates their locally-grown, giant white beans in this hearty dish flavored with chorizo, blood sausage, and pork belly.
Fabada asturiana (asturian White Bean, Chorizo, Morcilla, & Pork Belly Stew)
Ingredients
- 3 cups dried white fabes de Asturias
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 large white onion, small dice
- 1 clove garlic, finely minced
- 1 link chorizo
- 1 link morcilla (blood sausage)
- 4oz chunk of tocino, or salted pork belly
- 20 saffron threads
Instructions
- Soak beans overnight in water.
- The next morning, drain and replace water to cover the beans by ½”.
- Place on high heat and bring to a boil.
- Add the onions, garlic, bay leaves, tocino, and saffron and bring to simmer.
- Cook the beans for 1 hour on medium-low heat with a lid.
- Stir the beans on the bottom of the pot every 20 minutes to keep them from sticking.
- Add additional water if needed to ensure the beans remain submerged in liquid throughout the cooking process.
- After the first hour of cooking, add the chorizo and blood sausage and continue to cook for an additional 1.5-2 hours, or until the beans are completely tender.
- Remove bay leaves and remove morcilla, tocino, and chorizo.
- Cut the morcilla, tocino, and chorizo into bite-sized chunks and serve with the bean stew if desired.