Growing up with two parents from Boston, my brother and I ate our fair share of baked beans as kids. A thrifty yet filling staple of the New England table, the baked beans were always supplemented with fried hot dogs and brown bread.
If you’re rooting for the New England Patriots in the Super Bowl this Sunday, your spread would not be complete with some kind of simple bean dish. Here’s a non-traditional version of baked beans from Sandra Gluck’s “Beans: A Gourmet Pantry Cookbook.”
To get the best texture – firm but not mushy beans – it’s best to use a clay bean pot. And to my cousins in Boston and Cape Cod, who hold their own baked bean cook-off each year, “Go Patriots!”
Italian-Style Baked Beans
Serves 6 to 8
1 pound Great Northern, cannellini or navy beans
4 ounces salt pork, in one piece
1 cups canned crushed tomatoes in juice
1 cup chopped onions
½ cup chopped fresh basil
1 teaspoon grated orange zest
¼ cup fresh orange juice
2 teaspoons minced fresh oregano or 1 teaspoon dried
6 garlic cloves, mined
½ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
¼ cup plain dried bread crumbs
In a large bowl, soak the beans overnight in water to cover by 3 inches. Drain.
In a medium-size saucepan, combine the beans with water to cover by 3 inches. Bring to a boil over medium heat, skimming any foam that rises to the surface. Reduce the heat, partially cover, and simmer, for about 1 hour, or until the beans are tender; stir occasionally and add water if necessary to keep the beans covered. Drain the beans, reserving 2 cups of the cooking liquid. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
Cut the salt pork in half. Place half in a nonreactive 2-quart Dutch oven or bean pot and add the beans. IN a medium-size bowl, combine the reserved cooking liquid, the tomatoes and their juice, the onions, basil, orange zest and juice, oregano, and garlic, and stir into the beans. Score the rind of the remaining salt pork in a crisscross fashion and bury the pork in the beans.
Cover the beans and bake for 1 hour. Lower the oven temperature to 250 degrees. Bake, covered, for 2 hours, stirring the beans up from the bottom 2 or 3 times.
In a small bowl, combine the Parmesan and bread crumbs. Increase the oven temperature to 400 degrees, sprinkle the top of the beans with the bread crumb mixture, and bake, uncovered for 30 minutes longer, or until crusty-brown on top.
