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I’ve cooked Nigella's Cuban Black Beans many times since the book, Simply Nigella (affiliate link) came out in 2015. Chop a couple of onions, peppers and some garlic; the rest is just assembly. What you do need to do, though, is give these beans time. Either a couple of hours in a low oven or longer in a slow cooker. As a bonus, this is one of the few recipes I’ve come across where the dried beans don’t need to be pre-soaked.
One small addition I've included is a tablespoon of chipotle paste. It gives the beans more depth and interest. I usually add two tablespoons but this makes the beans spicy so start with a tablespoon.
Although these beans are a great side dish, I tend to make them as the main event. They make work lunches a treat when paired with rice and yoghurt, and of all the meals I reheat at work, these beans attract the most compliments. One colleague swears they smell just like Dominos BBQ pizza.
My last batch went into quesadillas along with cheddar cheese and caramelised garlic yoghurt; it was an absolute joy of a dinner. The garlic yoghurt recipe is in the notes.
For years I cooked these beans in my oven as I didn’t own a slow cooker but a few weeks ago a colleague lent one to me. To be honest, the beans taste similar regardless of how they’re cooked as I let them cool before reheating, which thickens and intensifies the sauce.
The oven method requires browning the onions first. When using a slow cooker, the raw ingredients go straight in - the recipe doesn’t mention browning. After seven hours in the slow cooker I swear I could still taste the tang of raw onion. Once the beans were cooled and reheated they tasted like their normal selves but I would definitely recommend browning the onions, regardless of which method you use.
Make sure to use relatively fresh beans. I used some that were at least two years old and they refused to soften in my slow cooker. A brand new batch of beans softened after just four hours.
Slice the top off a bulb of garlic (take the very tips off the cloves and keep the base intact) then wrap in foil and bake for around 40 minutes in a 200°C (180°C fan) oven.
Like Nigella, I don’t turn on my oven just for the purpose of roasting garlic but if I’m cooking something else I’ll often throw in a bulb at the same time. Adjust the cooking time to suit the temperature of the oven; you don’t need to be precise. Once the cloves have caramelised to a dark bronze colour, the whole bulb goes into the fridge where it keeps for a week. The squidgy cloves can be added to soups, stews, or, my favourite by a mile, Greek yoghurt.
400g of Greek yoghurt, 1 teaspoon of sea salt flakes and 5-6 roasted garlic cloves amounts to a beautiful sauce that reminds me of the yoghurt you get in a really good kebab shop.
Simply Nigella (affiliate link) by Nigella Lawson.
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