Baked Beans

Well I initially intended to make these baked beans in my Thermomix.  But when I saw how much they had expanded during the soaking process, I decided I would cook them the good old fashioned way - on the stove top!  I strongly recommend starting with dried beans (as opposed to canned).  Although it takes a while longer to prepare them this way, you are making them much more digestible by soaking them.  Another added benefit is that when buying tinned beans, they usually come in a BPA lined tin.  And this recipe makes a really nice big batch, so whatever you don't use, you can freeze for later!

Ingredients:
- 3 cups dried navy beans, soaked for 24 hours in water and then drained and rinsed well
- 1 onion, peeled and diced
- 2 cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped
- 1 rasher nitrate free bacon, rind removed, diced
- 2 tbsp cooking fat (I used ghee)
- 4 cups water (or you can do what I did and use homemade chicken broth)
- 1 bay leaf
- 400g can diced tomatoes or tomato puree
-  2 tbsp tomato paste
- 2 tsp rapadura sugar
- 1 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
- Sea salt, pepper, Herbamare to taste

Method:
1.  In a large saucepan on medium heat, cook the onion, garlic, bacon and cooking fat, stirring for a few minutes until beginning to caramelise.

2.  Add the beans, water/broth and bay leaf.  Cover with a lid and reduce the heat to very low.  Simmer for a couple of hours, stirring every now and then.  If the liquid seems to be evaporating quickly, you can top it up with water if required.

3.  When the beans are tender, add the remaining ingredients, cover and cook for another 30 minutes or so, stirring every so often.