Bean stew from Menorca

Ingredients for 6 servings:

• 350 g beans, white, dried
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 2 ½ liters of water
• 1 large onion(s)
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 2 large beefsteak tomatoes
• 1 tbsp tomato paste
• 1 chili pepper(s), red, dried
• 1 bay leaf
• 150 g raw ham in one piece
• 350 g potatoes
• 350 g green beans
• 250g chorizo
• Salt and pepper, from the mill

Instructions

Working time approx. 30 minutes; Rest time approx. 12 hours; Cooking/baking time approx. 2 hours 20 minutes; Total time approx. 14 hours 50 minutes

Menorca’s ancestral home

Soak the beans overnight in water mixed with baking powder. Peel the onion and garlic, chop very finely, and sauté gently in moderately hot olive oil. Blanch the tomatoes in hot water, peel them, and deseed them, removing the blossom end. Add the chopped tomato flesh to the onions and stir in the tomato paste. Pour the drained white beans into the pot and cover with plenty of water. Carefully deseed and crumble the chili peppers, and add them along with the bay leaf. Place the ham on top. Cover and simmer for 2 hours over low heat. Meanwhile, peel the potatoes and dice them into approximately centimeter-sized cubes. Trim the green beans, break them into pieces, and boil them in salted water for 5 to 7 minutes until just tender. Then cool them in ice-cold water to retain their bright green color. Stir the diced potatoes and chorizo ​​into the bean pot and simmer for 10 minutes. Then remove half of the contents of the pot and puree it in a blender or pass it through a sieve. Then pour it back into the remaining beans. Remove the bay leaf. Dice the ham, slice the chorizo, and stir into the pot with the green beans. Heat everything back up and season with salt and pepper.