Fabada Asturiana — Northern Spain's Bean Pot

Ingredients

• 1 lb large dried white beans, soaked overnight
• 8 oz Spanish chorizo, left whole
• 6 oz morcilla or smoked blood sausage, left whole
• 8 oz smoked pork shoulder or pancetta, in one piece
• 1 onion, halved
• 4 cloves garlic, peeled
• 1 pinch saffron threads
• 1 tsp sweet pimentón
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 2 bay leaves
• Salt

Method

1. Drain the soaked beans and put them in a heavy pot with the onion, garlic, bay, chorizo, morcilla, and pork. Cover with cold water by two inches and bring slowly to a bare simmer.
2. Skim the gray foam off the surface for the first 10 minutes, then add the olive oil, saffron, and pimentón. Never let it boil — hard bubbling splits the bean skins and clouds the broth.
3. Simmer 75–90 minutes with the lid ajar, adding a splash of cold water whenever the level drops below the beans. That cold-water shock is the traditional trick for tender skins.
4. When the beans are creamy all the way through, lift out the meats and slice them thick. Fish out the onion and bay.
5. Mash a ladleful of beans against the side of the pot and stir it back in to thicken the broth. Season with salt, return the sliced meats, and rest off the heat 15 minutes before serving.