Catalan beans: tips and tricks to get delicious 

Hi Paulina Friends Kitchen! Today we are going to talk about a spoon dish with history and personality: they are the beans to Catalan , a perfect traditional stew to take advantage of these legumes.

We are going to get fully into a Catalan cuisine . The idea is to tell them a little about their origin, get some doubts about their preparation and, as always, share many tips and tricks to make the recipe.

And yes, attentive, attentive that in the end we leave the recipe step by step of these stewed beans that are a glory when they cooked well. Forward!

About beans to Catalan

This dish is like a walk through the history of Catalonia with a spoon in hand. The beans to the Catalan , also known as Catalan's Sales , are a humble and tasty stew.

A dish made of beans, onion, bacon, black butifarra, and the fresh touch of mint or peppermint , which gives it that unique personality.

This dish can be prepared with fresh beans (ideal in season) but you can also make frozen Catalan beans , which save us at any time of the year.

The key is in a good stir -fry, cooking time and putting a lot of love. All this makes this dish become an experience: this is Catalan culture, history and spoon .

The history of beans to Catalan

Like almost all vegetable recipes , beans to Catalan are born from need and ingenuity. It is a dish that dates back centuries, when beans emerged as a basic, accessible and nutritious food .

In the Catalan fields, families cooked great pots of this stew to feed many with little. And as a good field recipe , he was taking body with what was at hand: bacon , black butifarra , rancid wine and herbs .

Over time, this humble recipe was sneaking into restaurant kitchens and everyone's hearts. Today, there is no Catalan cooking that does not include its beloved Catalan faves, along with the Escudella or the Escalivada .

Catalan beans are like a tribute to the earth, grandparents, and that art of magic with simple ingredients.

6 characteristics of beans to Catalan 

1. The base sofrito: well -pointed onion, garlic and sometimes a touch of tomato. Patience, because good beans to Catalan are not made with trouble.
2. The touch of the black butifarra: eye with this, which is not any sausage. The black butifarra gives a deep and earthy flavor to the beans to the Catalan.
3. The bacon or bacon: Doradita, to release your little fat and perfume the stew. Because what would be a Catalan bean stew without its crispy bacon?
4. Rancio wine or sweet wine: it is used to lift the cooking background. A jerez or dry white wine also serves. But that clipite of acidity and sweetness changes everything.
5. The mint or stiffness: according to taste, one or the other. In any case, do not forget the Herbal touch because it is what gives freshness to stewed beans .
6. Time and love: This is not a dish to do with trouble. The Catalan bean stew needs mimo and slow cooking.

Common questions about the preparation of beans to Catalan

• Retipe of beans to the frozen Catalan, yes or no?: If it is season, fresh beans are wonderful, but good beans frozen to Catalan can save us at any time. The key is to cook them well.
• For the stew, do we have to peel the beans twice? Traditionally, yes. The pods are peeled and then the outer skin of each hay is removed so that they are more tender. frozen beans are used , they are already peeled and one step less.
• What kind of black butifarra is it better? A good quality black butifarra, with a good balance between flesh and fat , will make a difference in your dish of beans to Catalan.
• Mint or stiffean? Both go wonderful to the festers to the Catalan . The mint brings a more intense freshness, while the peppermint is softer.
• How to prevent beans to the Catalan are hard or dry? Slow cooking and with enough liquid. If they dry, add some broth or hot water.
• Can they be freezed once cooked? Of course, here we always encourage Mealprep ! In fact they can do more, to have. Grandma frozen Catalan beans save any food!

Variations from beans to Catalan

• With poché egg or fried egg on top (to break and mix it ... mmm).
• With colored sausage , if they do not get black butifarra (but do not say very high in Catalonia).
• Catalan beans in vegetarian version , without meat but with more stir -fry and mint.
• With artichokes (caruciles): they are added in the middle of cooking and are spectacular.
• Cover style , with little broth, more concentrated, and served with roasted bread .

7 Tricks for Delicious Catalan beans

1. Dedicate time to sofrito : it is the basis of all taste.
2. Add the black butifarra at the end: sauté it a few minutes before, but then remove it and add it again when the cooking is finishing.
3. Use a splash of wine: lift the flavors that were stuck to the bottom. And we want that taste in our beans to Catalan.
4. The fair broth : add the broth little by little, what is necessary for the beans to the Catalan to be tender and with a thick sauce, but not water.
5. Try the frozen beans to the Catalan : well treated, they come out delicious. The good thing is that it is not necessary to defrost them, they are added directly to the stew.
6. Crispy bacon: If you like the bacon well crispy, you can brown separately and add it to the end.
7. Fresh touch at the end: do not forget the mint or peppermint at the end of cooking.

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Catalan bean recipe

Yields: 4 portions

Preparation time: 1 hour

Ingredients

• 600 g of fresh or frozen beans
• 1 large onion (fine pen chop)
• 2 garlic cloves (chopped)
• 150g bacon or bacon in cubes
• 2 black butifarras (or 1 if it's large)
• 1 glass of rancid wine or dry white wine
• 1 twenty sprig or peppermint
• 1 bay leaf
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Extra virgin olive oil
• 1 cup of vegetable broth ( see recipe )

How to do beans to Catalan step by step

1. In a casserole, brown the bacon without adding oil. Remove and book. 
2. In the same background sauté the butifarra cut into slices. Remove and book.
3. Add some olive oil to the casserole if necessary. Incorporate onion and garlic, and fry over low heat until they are tender and transparent.
4. Incorporate fresh or frozen beans, mix and let them impregnate the sauce.
5. Add the wine and cook over medium heat until alcohol is completely evaporated (2-3 minutes).
6. Add the reserved bacon, the bay leaf and enough hot broth to cover the beans. Cook over low heat, with a lid ajar, for 30-40 minutes if the beans are fresh, or 15-20 minutes if they are frozen. Remove from time to time. In the end, the important thing is that the beans are tender.
7. Incorporate the black butifarra into thick slices and cook 5 more minutes, with the uncovered cover so that flavors are integrated.
8. Add the mint or chopped peppermint, turn off the heat and let stand 5-10 minutes before serving.