These aren’t your traditional baked beans. They are a meal in themselves! However, if you are vegetarian or vegan (or just on a tight budget) you can omit the belly pork from the recipe and they still make a delicious tasty side dish.
Ingredients for Boston Baked Beans:
- 1 lb dried haricot beans (soaked in plenty of cold water overnight)
- 2 large tomatoes (skinned and chopped)
- 2 tablespoons black treacle
- 1 tablespoon English mustard
- Salt and pepper
- 1 lb belly pork (diced into 2″ cubes and rind removed)
- 2 medium onions (peeled and thinly sliced)
Method for Boston Baked Beans:
- Soak the beans in plenty of cold water overnight. Bring to a fast boil for 5 minutes and then reduce to a simmer for 15 minutes.
- Drain and reserve ¾ pint of the cooking liquid.
- Pour the reserved liquid into a saucepan, add the tomatoes and simmer for 10 minutes.
- Strain the liquid and return to the pan. Add the treacle, mustard and salt and pepper to taste.
- Put the beans, pork and onions into a the slow cooker. Pour the sauce over the top – allowing plenty of space for the beans to swell further during cooking.
- Cook on the low setting for 8 hours. After about 4 hours examine the beans and if they are still very hard, raise the temperature to medium. If they are becoming too dry, add a little boiling water.
Serves 6 as a side and 3-4 depending on appetite as a main. Will keep in the fridge for about a week in a sealed container or can be frozen.
Tried the recipe this week, delicious!!! 🙂
The only changes I’d make could be: replace treacle with soft brown sugar (it will avoid the strong, liquorice-like back taste); use a can of chopped tomatoes to make the whole recipe juicier 😉
Nonetheless it is worth making, and it keeps perfectly in the fridge.