Vegan Food & Living - October 2017

500g (1lb 2oz) dried

haricot beans

2 bay leaves

3 medium onions (450-525g

(1lb-1lb 2½oz)), peeled and

fi nely chopped

8 garlic cloves, peeled and

fi nely sliced

4 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

2 x 400g (14oz) tins of

chopped tomatoes in juice

salt

caster sugar

cayenne pepper or piment

d’espelette

1 Soak the beans for 12 hours in a large (24cm (9in)) pot of

cold water.

2 Drain the beans in a colander. Rinse them thoroughly. Put

them back into the pot. Barely cover the beans with fresh

cold water, just enough to submerge them: too much

water and they will become too liquid and tasteless; too

little and the beans won’t cook properly. Bring to the boil

over a high heat. Add the bay leaves. Put a lid on the pan,

but leave it slightly ajar. Turn the heat down to medium.

Simmer very gently for 35-45 minutes (this will vary

depending on the age of the beans) or until the beans are

almost tender.

3 While the beans simmer, get a large (24cm (9in))

saucepan. Add the extra-virgin olive oil, onions, garlic and

4 tbsp water. Put the lid on and sweat for 6-8 minutes

until the vegetables are soft. Add the tinned tomatoes and

bring to the boil. Simmer for 5 minutes. Take the pan off

the heat.

4 When the beans have simmered for 35-45 minutes and

are almost tender, add the tomato sauce mixture. Simmer

for 15 minutes more, or until the beans are tender.

5 Take the pan off the heat. Season with salt,

sugar and cayenne pepper. Put the lid on. Leave

to sit for 25 minutes.

HOW TO STORE

6 I upcycle plastic takeaway containers with

tight-fitting lids to store my beans in. A great upside to

these is that they are microwaveable.

7 Spoon the beans with even amounts of their cooking juice

in 300g (10½oz) portions into clean plastic containers.

8 Leave to cool completely, do not touch the beans with

your fingers. Cover the containers tightly. Refrigerate and/

or freeze.

Baked beans

By Alex Mackay

Makes 2.5kg (5lb 8oz) | Prep 10 mins plus soaking |

Cook 1 hr | Calories 55 (per 100g)

Weekend^ RECIPES

The recipes on pages

83-84 and the chestnut

balls on page 85 are taken

from The Magic Fridge by

Alex Mackay, photography

by Peter Knab, published

by Bloomsbury. (RRP

£26.) This book includes

non-vegan recipes.

84 VEGAN FOOD AND LIVING OCTOBER

Total fat Saturates Salt Sugar Protein

2.3g 0.3g 0.01g 2 .1g 1.8g

VFL17.Weekend.indd 84 06/09/2017 16:02