These are delicious and very versatile. I use black beans which are my favourite, but they are hard to find in a can, so I have to cook dry beans beforehand. Cooking instructions for the beans are at the end of the page, if that’s what you want to do, otherwise, canned beans are fine: cannelini, kidney, navy or a mixture.
Ingredients:
- 2 onions finely chopped
- 4 cloves of garlic
- 1 Tbsp each of ground coriander, cumin, smoked paprika, paprika
- 1/8 tsp chilli powder (optional, I don’t always put it in)
- Macadamia oil/ghee/clarified butter
- Cooked black beans, see below, or 2 x 400g cans of beans of your choice (if you like extra beans add another can)
- 2 x 400g tins of crushed or chopped tomatoes
- 1 tsp vegetable stock paste (or 1 tsp sea salt and finely chopped celery)
- 1 tbsp tomato paste
Method:
- Heat oil in a frying pan, add onion garlic and spices, cook till soft.
- Place all the other ingredients into the slow cooker then add the onion/garlic/spices mix.
- Cook on low for about 6-7hours or high for about 3hrs. just check your liquid levels.
Thermomix method:
- Put onion and garlic in the TM bowl, speed 6 for 5 seconds.
- Scrape down bowl and add oil and spices and cook at 100°, speed 1 for 2 minutes.
- Add all other ingredients to TM bowl (EXCEPT BEANS) and cook for 100°, speed 1 for 10 minutes.
- To break down the tomatoes, hit turbo once or twice. If you want a really smooth sauce blend on speed 6 for 8 seconds or longer.
- Place beans into the slow cooker then add the sauce and cook for 7-8 hours on low.
Sometimes I cook them overnight and have them for breakfast, other times I put them on in the morning ready for an early dinner. If you want them quicker you can cook on high for about 3-4 hours. The longer you cook them the thicker the sauce will be.
If you don’t have a slow cooker you can cook on a stove top with a lid until thick or bake in the oven in a casserole dish with a lid for a couple of hours on around 180°C. If you want to cook it quickly just double the tomato paste to make it nice and thick (2 tbsp).
Cooking dry beans:
- Soak 2 cups dry black beans overnight in 6-8 cups of water.
- Drain, rinse and cover with fresh water.
- Bing to the boil and cook for approximately 1 hour or until beans are tender.
- Drain and use.
Variations:
- For a milder flavour, leave out the smoked paprika and chilli.
- Add some cooked bacon chopped.
- Add 2 bay leaves.
- Add 25g rapadura/panela/muscavado sugar, rice malt syrup or black strap molasses.
Where to buy these sugars:
Rice malt syrup from the supermarket in the health food aisle (Pure Harvest, is a good brand)
Muscavado/panela/rapadura are now available in Coles and Woolworths in the sugar aisle and in some health food aisles. You can also buy them at health food stores.