Spanish cuisine · Soups & Stews

Tolosa Bean Stew

Basque stew of deep black Tolosa beans served with white cabbage and pickled piparra peppers.

Ingredients · for 4 servings

• 400 g black Tolosa beans (or black beans)
• 1 onion
• 1 green bell pepper
• 4 garlic cloves
• 1 tsp sweet paprika
• 1 small white cabbage
• 12 piparras (pickled green peppers)
• 80 ml olive oil
• 1 bay leaf
• Salt, pepper

Instructions

1. Soak the beans overnight in cold water, drain the next day and set to cook with the halved onion, halved bell pepper, bay leaf, 3 tbsp olive oil and 1.5 l cold water.
2. Bring slowly to a simmer and let cook covered over the lowest possible heat for 2 hours — the liquid must never boil hard or the beans will burst.
3. Whenever the broth reduces too much, add a small splash of cold water; this shocking keeps the skins intact and makes the broth dark and creamy.
4. Remove the onion, bell pepper and bay leaf, purée a ladleful of beans and stir back in to thicken the broth; season with salt and pepper.
5. Cut the white cabbage into broad strips and boil in salted water for 12 min until tender, drain and toss with the chopped garlic fried golden in the remaining olive oil and the paprika stirred in off the heat.
6. Serve the beans in deep bowls with the cabbage and piparras offered on separate small dishes so everyone adds them themselves.