Spanish
Fabada Asturiana
Asturian fabes slowly simmered with chorizo, morcilla, pork belly, and saffron into a creamy bean stew.
6 servings · 25 minutes prep · 180 minutes cook
Ingredients
Ingredients
- 1 pound dried fabes de la Granja or other large, thin-skinned white beans
- 10 cups cold water, plus more for soaking
- 8 ounces Asturian smoked chorizo
- 8 ounces Asturian morcilla, preferably onion-based and smoke-cured
- 8 ounces cured pork shoulder or lacón, soaked if very salty
- 4 ounces salt pork or unsmoked slab bacon
- 1 small yellow onion, peeled and left whole
- 2 garlic cloves, lightly crushed
- 1 bay leaf
- 1/4 teaspoon saffron threads
- Diamond Crystal kosher salt, only if needed
Directions
Soak and Simmer the Beans
- Cover the beans with at least 3 inches of cold water and soak for 12 hours. In a separate bowl, soak the cured pork shoulder in cold water for 8 to 12 hours if heavily salted. Drain both.
- Put the beans in a wide heavy pot with 10 cups cold water. Bring slowly just to a boil, skim thoroughly, and add the chorizo, morcilla, pork shoulder, salt pork, onion, garlic, and bay leaf. Reduce immediately to the faintest simmer.
- Cook uncovered for 2 1/2 to 3 hours, shaking the pot gently instead of stirring so the beans remain whole. Two or three times during the first hour, add 1/2 cup cold water to check the boil and keep the beans barely covered. Skim excess fat but leave enough to enrich the broth.
Season, Rest, and Serve
- Toast the saffron in a dry skillet over low heat for 20 seconds, crush it, and steep it in 2 tablespoons hot bean broth for 10 minutes. Add it during the final 30 minutes of cooking.
- When the beans are creamy inside and the broth is lightly thickened, remove the meats. Discard the onion, garlic, and bay leaf. Taste before adding any salt. If the broth is thin, crush 2 tablespoons beans against the side of the pot and shake gently to disperse them.
- Rest the fabada off the heat for 30 minutes. Slice the chorizo and morcilla thickly and cut the pork into serving pieces. Return them to the pot, rewarm without boiling, and serve in warm bowls.
