La Tienda The Best of Spain
4 Reviews

Fabada - Asturian Bean Stew Recipe

Receta de Fabada Asturiana

2 hours, 5 minutes

6 servings

Hearty, satisfying fabada stew is the pride of Asturias. Chorizo and morcilla sausages add a rich, smoky flavor to the famous fabada beans. These buttery, smooth beans have an uncanny ability to absorb the flavors of all the other ingredients. Once a simple country dish, fabada is now a venerated symbol of the region, and great care is given to the quality of each ingredient. We offer all the ingredients you need to prepare this classic cool weather dish.

Ingredients

shell

Nutritional Facts

Serving Size 9.2 oz/261 gr;
Calories 735;
Calories from Fat 347;
Total Fat 39 gr (60%);
Saturated Fat 12 gr (60%);
Trans Fat 0 gr;
Cholesterol 95 mg (32%);
Sodium 2558 mg (107%);
Total Carbohydrates 47 gr (16%);
Fiber 11 gr (45%);
Sugars 3 gr;
Protein 50 gr (101%);
Vitamin A 4%;
Vitamin C 3%;
Calcium 19%;
Iron 53%;

* Percent Daily Values are based on 2000 calorie diet. Your Daily Values may be higher or lower depending on your caloric needs.

How To Cook

STEP 1

Soak the shank in the refrigerator overnight, changing the water once. In another container, cover the beans in 3 inches of cold water and allow to soften in the refrigerator overnight.   

STEP 2

Drain the beans and shank. In an olla de hierra or 2-quart heavy bottom pot, sweat the bacon, onion and garlic in the olive oil over low heat until onion is transparent. Add the shank and beans, season with the bay leaf, saffron, paprika and pepper. Add water to cover the ingredients by 1 inch.  

STEP 3

Bring to a boil; de-foam the stew with a slotted spoon. Lower heat and simmer on moderately low heat, covered, for around 1 ½ hours. Shake, tilt and rotate the pot several times during cooking. It is important to stir the beans as little as possible as the beans are delicate and will break. Add more cold water if necessary. After about 1 1/2 hours, when the beans are almost soft, add the chorizo and morcilla. Adjust the seasoning and leave to simmer until the beans are completely soft, about 2 hours total.  

STEP 4

Before serving, remove the shank and sausages from the pan, cut into pieces and combine with the beans. Serve with crusty bread and a Spanish red wine or sidra. 

Ratings and Reviews

4.5

4 Reviews
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Good Excellent Will make It .

February 2016

I've tasted this stew when I went on vacation in Spain and have always yearn for its taste. Found La Tienda and the necessary ingredients and I cooked it over Christmas dinner. It was a success and everybody loved it. I had to use the serrano ham though since I don't know where to find the dried ham. I still am not used to the taste of morcillo. The stew cooked for about 1 1/2 hours and definitely less than 2 hours to achieve the tenderness. I guess it depends on the pot and how much heat you are using.

January 2013

We love this recipe. It freezes beautifully, so we make a big batch in autumn to use all winter. Like the other reviewer, we always have to cook the beans for about 2 hours before they become tender. Also, we only use one morcilla (Quijote) because they are so big. We never add salt because there is already plenty of salt in the meat products that are added. Finally, being garlic fans, we use two whole heads of garlic rather than one measly clove. Because it cooks for so long, the garlic flavor is not overpowering.

September 2011

After thinking about this dish for months, we finally invited friends for a Spanish dinner last night. The authentic fabada beans are quite expensive, but we decided to do it right, and I'm really glad we did. The beans are very special with an elegant, creamy texture. They absorb the rich flavors of the broth perfectly. We used Spanish chorizo and morcilla sausages. The chorizo is very salty, so watch out for that if sodium is a concern. The morcilla is interesting stuff, and adds a wonderful herbal earthiness to the dish. I definitely recommend it. The recipe works pretty well, except I'll bet no one in America can find a real Lacon - dry-cured pork shank. I'm sure it would be wonderful, but it's simply not to be found. (Someone should ask the Smithfield ham people to make 'em.) But I thought the slightly pungent flavor of dry cured pork would be important to the dish, so instead I used an 8 oz piece of cured salt pork, 4 oz chunk of serano ham, and an 8 oz slab of pancetta. I soaked the cured meat overnight to eliminate some of the salt, changing the water several times. Then when cooking the dish, I added a 1 lb smoked pork shank along with the cured pork. The combination was really delicious. I modified the recipe by starting with the onion-bacon-garlic mixture, adding the cured and smoked pork with the water. This I simmered for about 45 minutes. THEN I added the soaked beans to the broth, and the paprika. (I put the saffron in later, along with the sausages.) Another small problem with the recipe is timing. It implies that the dish is ready in a little more than 1 1/2 hours. My beans didn't approach tenderness until about 2 hours. Then I removed the pork pieces to trim away remaining fat and remove the shank bones. Then I added the sausages. The beans seemed to be perfect in about another 1/2 hour. I selected the lean pieces of pork that still had flavor, and added them back to the broth along with the cut up sausages. The dish was truly spectacular! Everyone absolutely loved it. We had a fresh crusty bread with it to sop up that perfect broth. The recipe with 14 oz beans makes enough for about 6. By the way, a Muga goes beautifully with this. Our appetizer was Bacalao al Pil-Pil served with Albarino. Altogether it was a great dinner.

April 2011