One of Spain’s heavyweight dishes (in both senses), Fabada may not be as well known as Paella outside of Spain, but is definitely on an equal footing within. Richly flavoured from the smoking and fats of the meats, this is a hearty dish from the mountains of the north. Alubias fabada or fabes are large white pulses which become very tender when cooked. Many Asturians hold the quality of the Fabada in the alubias or fabes used to make the dish. The morcilla and chorizo should be smoked if possible. Lacon is cured pork, if you can’t get any, then ham can be used. Thick smoked bacon with rind and black pudding can be substituted for a very similar dish.

Serves roughly 4 people

Day or night before dish is required:
1) Soak beans in plenty of water. Put lacon or ham to soak overnight in hot water. Blanch salt pork in boiling water for five minutes.

The day of the feast:
1) Wash the morcilla & chorizo lightly to remove some of the smokiness.
2) Drain beans and place in a puchero, cacerola or other large cooking pot and add water to about 1”/2-3cm above the beans.
3) On a high heat, bring to the boil and skim off the froth (if you are using terracotta allow time for it to adapt to the heat of the hob before increasing to boil).
4) Crush saffron if using hebra (stems) and dissolve in a little water and add to the beans.
5) Replace lid, cook for about five minutes and skim again.
6) Add chorizo and morcilla, a little more water and mix the ingredients gently using a wooden spoon – only stir once and be careful not to break the beans – the additional water at this early stage makes it easier to move the ingredients a bit.
7) Boil for another five minutes and skim again. Add a bay-leaf, cover and cook very slowly for about two to three hours.
8) The beans will be tender when the Fabada is ready, you can still keep it on a low heat if you aren’t eating immediately, for up to another hour, but be sure to leave the Fabada to sit for 15-20 minutes between cooking and serving – if you leave the lid on it won’t cool too much, but this allows the flavours to gently blend

Tips

• Once the initial cooking has been done, electric slow-cookers can be quite handy although naturally it’s not quite as authentic as using traditional cooking equipment and you can’t serve straight to the table in such style
• Add cold water if required. You need to keep the beans just covered so that they don’t dry out which would cause them to expand & split.
• Don’t stir the fabada as you will break the beans, but shake it gently a few times during cooking
• As with any of our Spanish recipes containing pulses – if you feel that the dish you have prepared is a little too liquid, don’t frantically boil & don’t despair – take a little of the pulse mixture that you have just cooked, use a blender to reduce it and re-introduce to the dish to thicken.