Quick and Easy Spicy Baked Beans Recipe

 My dad used to sing a little ditty about baked beans but it isn’t appropriate for print — well not in a cookbook anyway! The baked beans we eat today are believed to draw upon Native American as well as French or Italian origins. Baked beans were first produced commercially by the Americans in the late 1800s, with the British following close behind. Although the tinned form is very handy, it just doesn’t compare with this flavoursome version, which is almost, but not quite, as quick as opening the tin.

By request, from my cookbook 'Grub - Favourite Food Memories' here is a simple recipe for making your own Spicy Baked Beans at home.

serves 2 as a main and 4 as a side

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 small brown onion, chopped

1 slice of bacon, finely chopped, optional if you are veggo

1 garlic clove, crushed

60 g (21/4 oz/1/4 cup) tomato paste (concentrated purée)

1 bay leaf 

1 teaspoon sweet paprika (or smoked sweet paprika if not using bacon)

large pinch of cayenne pepper

2 teaspoons mustard powder 

2 tablespoons worcestershire sauce

2 tablespoons golden syrup (if unavailable, substitute with maple syrup  or honey) 

11/2 teaspoons sea salt flakes

2 x 400 g (14 oz) tins cannellini beans, drained

Heat the olive oil in a saucepan over medium–high heat. Add the onion and the bacon, if using, and sauté for 5 minutes, or until lightly golden. Add the garlic, tomato paste, bay leaf, paprika, cayenne pepper, mustard powder, worcestershire sauce, golden syrup, sea salt flakes and 375 ml (13 fl oz/11/2 cups) water. Stir well and bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes.

Add the beans and cook, stirring occasionally, for a further 10–15 minutes, or until the mixture is thick and saucy and the beans are tender but not mushy.

Season to taste and serve on thick slabs of buttered toast or as a side dish for fried or poached eggs. These spicy baked beans also make a great jaffle filling.

**This recipe is from my cookbook Grub published by Murdoch Books  - all text and images are the copyright of Jane Lawson and may not be replicated without permission.

Image by super lovely photographer Steve Brown.