Fabada Asturiana

It was a fair few years before I had actually sampled this heavy winter dish but once I did, I almost felt robbed of the pleasure of endulging in it's rich flavours in my earlier years in Spain.
Fabada Asturiana, often simply known as "Fabada" , is a rich bean casserole origionally from Asturias but is widely available all over Spain and in Spanish bars and restaurants worldwide. Fabada is made with dried large white beans called "Fabas"(which need to be soaked overnight before use) Lacón(cured ham hock), Tocino de pancetta(cured bacon belly), morcilla(a black blood sausage, the spanish cousin of black pudding), chorizo(traditional Spanish spicy sausage), Azafrán(saffron) and seasoning. A ham bone can also be added for extra flavour.
Fabada is a distant cousin to the "Cassoulet" from southern France. Fabada is a very heavy dish and for this reason is often eaten for lunch with bread. If you fancy a tipple to compliment this asturianan dish, you could endulge yourself with an Asturian cider.


Ingredients: (4-6 Servings)
1kg of Fabas or Cannellini beans(Italian white kidney beans)
3 morcillas
3 chorizos
1/2 kg of lacón
100g of tocino
2 medium onions
3 large garlic cloves
Saffron, salt and pepper to taste.
Water to cover.

Method:
Soak the ham hock in tepid water(after singeing off any remaining hairs)and fabas in cold water over night.
Sweat off the onions and chopped garlic(frying without browning) until softened, then place in a large heavy casserole dish.
Next add the drained fabas, lacón, tocino, morcillas,saffron, pepper and chorizo(there are many types and sizes of chorizo, the best I feel for this dish is a sweet chorizo of about 2-3 inches.) then cover with water. You DO NOT want to add the salt at this stage as the ham and bacon will release its salts during cooking,
Then cover the dish with a lid or tin foil and place in a pre-heated oven at 135º (gas mark 1) for approximately 90 minutes, after this time remove from oven and taste, if required add salt, top up the water, stir and return to the oven for a further 90 minutes.
After this time remove from oven and taste, add more salt and pepper only if required and serve with crusty bread.