23 June 2023

Homemade Baked Beans

RECIPE: PHILIPPA CAMERON

PHOTOGRAPHER: LOTTIE HEDLEY

Kāuta Taiwhenua. Provincial Kitchen.

This is a quick and hearty meal to throw together. A word to the wise, though: this is best served when the hungry recipients are working outside in open spaces for the remainder of the day! How does that children’s rhyme go, about beans being good for your heart – but the more you eat, the more you… Serve these beans with a poached egg and crusty bread.

Pip Cameron - Winter Warmers, Baked Beans. Photo by Lottie Hedley

Serves 6 as a side dish

INGREDIENTS

splash of oil
1 onion, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, crushed or finely chopped (or chop into chunks if preferred)
3–4 rashers bacon, chopped up (or leftover corned beef)
400-gram can chopped tomatoes
425-gram can cannellini or butter beans, drained and rinsed
390-gram can lentils, drained and rinsed
1 cup water
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons paprika (smoked paprika is nice, too)
½ tsp ground chilli (optional)
2 tablespoons tomato sauce

METHOD

Add the oil to a pan on a medium heat. Add the onion and garlic and sauté until the onions become translucent. Add the bacon or corned beef, tomatoes, beans and lentils.

Use one of the empty cans to mix together the water, Worcestershire sauce, brown sugar, paprika, chilli (if using) and tomato sauce. Pour into the bean mixture.

Simmer for 25 minutes until the sauce reduces and begins to thicken.

Recipe from Winter Warmers: Recipes and Stories from a New Zealand High Country Station by Philippa Cameron.
Published by Allen & Unwin, 2023. Hardback, $49.99.