Here is the recipe you have all been waiting for.  For all of you who miss tinned baked beans read on.

This recipe makes authentic baked beans. It is not a quick recipe, but what I do is make a large quantity and then freeze it in batches. You could also reuse the glass jars for storing these, they need to be sterilized well and kept in a cool place.

Ingredients 

250g Dried Haricot beansbakedbeans
2/3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
2 tbsp olive oil
500ml Pulpa tomato
500ml chicken stock (or vegetable for veggie variety)
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp Worcester sauce (Molho Ingles)
salt & pepper to taste

Method

  1. First, soak the beans for 5/6 hours, this is less than the full soaking time as they are going to be cooked for a long time.
  2. Rinse well and drain, then place in a large lidded casserole dish.
  3. Cook the onions and garlic in the oil until tender, then add 100ml of the stock and blend with an electric blender to a smooth paste.
  4. Add this onion paste to the beans along with the pulp tomato, sugar, and Worcester sauce, and then add the remaining stock to cover the beans.
  5. Bring to the boil on the hob then cover with lid and cook in a cool oven at 150 C.
  6. Check and stir every 20-30 minutes checking liquid level to ensure beans stay covered.
  7. Cook for at least 2-3 hours or until beans are tender and liquid absorbed; ideally, cook overnight in the cool oven of a range cooker, but if you don’t have one you will have to keep checking and stirring them.
  8. The longer time the beans are cooked for, the more of a “baked” taste they get, you will find the best way for your oven with a bit of testing.
  9. Salt and pepper can be added to taste.

Additional Notes

The possibility of variations with this basic recipe is endless:
One variation is to add your favorite herbs at the start of the cooking time, basil or oregano work well.

Haricot beans give the most authentic tinned bean taste but you can also try it with different beans, sometimes I use a mixture of different dried beans or even chickpeas.

Try adding piri piri sauce instead of Worcester sauce for a Portuguese 'kick'.