Name: Baked beans
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 55 min
Total time: 1 h
Yield: Serves 8
Cuisine: British

2 carrots
2 medium-sized onions
4 garlic cloves
2 x 400g tins of beans (cannellini are traditional, but I often use half borlotti and half black-eyed beans)
2 x tins of chopped tomatoes
70g double-concentrated tomato puree
1 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
2 tsp mild paprika
1 fresh chilli or 2 tsp chilli flakes
A little oil for frying

Method

step 1
Dice the onions and carrots, and fry in the oil for 5-10 minutes until the carrots are soft and the onion has browned.
step 2
Finely chop the garlic and fresh chilli (if using). Add to the pan, along with the dried spices, and fry for another minute or so.
step 3
Add the chopped tomatoes to the pan along with about 100ml water and bring to the boil. Drain and rinse the beans. Crumble the stock cube into the pan and stir thoroughly, then add the tomato puree and the beans.
step 4
Mix everything together, then cover and cook for at least 45 minutes (either on a low heat or in the oven if you prefer) to give the carrot and onion time to dissolve into the sauce. Give it a stir about every fifteen minutes while it's cooking to ensure it doesn't stick to the bottom of the pan.

Baked beans