Dish of Aragon Beans & Rice
(click to enlarge)

Aragon Beans & Rice


Spain - Aragon   -   Recao de Binefar
Serves:
Effort:
Sched:
DoAhead:  		 9 side
***
11 hrs
Part		 From Aragon, in northeast Spain, comes this mix of beans, rice and potatoes - typical of the region. This side dish is easy to make, substantial, and almost flavorful enough to stand on its own.




1
1/2
7
4
11
2
1
1/2
1/4
2-1/2
3/4
c
T
cl
oz
oz
c

T
c
t
c
White Beans (1)
Salt
Garlic
Onion
Potatoes (2)
Water
Bay Leaf
Paprika, hot (3)
Olive Oil, ExtV  
Salt
Rice (4)
Do Ahead   -   (8 hrs - 5 min work)
  1. Soak WHITE BEANS with 1/2 T Salt (yes, salt) and water to cover, 8 hours or overnight.
PREP   -   (1 hrs - 20 min work)
  1. Simmer Beans in water to cover until just tender through, then drain. They'll get at least another 20 minutes of cooking (see Note-6).
  2. Chop ONION small. Crush GARLIC and chop coarse. Mix.
  3. Peel POTATOES and cut into about 1/2 inch dice. Hold in cold water until needed.
RUN   -   (40 min)
  1. In a spacious coverable sauté pan or similar, place 1-3/4 c Water, the Onion mix, Potatoes, Bay Leaf, Paprika, Salt, Olive Oil and Beans. Bring to a boil, cover tightly and simmer about 10 minutes.   Note: if your Beans seem a little too soft, put them in with the rice instead of here.
  2. Stir in Rice and simmer covered until rice is fully cooked, about 20 minutes.   Note: the dish should not be dry, still a little soupy when the rice is done. Adjust as needed by simmering with the lid off or adding boiling water as needed.
  3. Serve hot.   Note: if this dish needs to be re-heated, reheat covered in a 300°F/150°C oven. It'll be a little drier, but still good.
NOTES:

  1. White Beans:

      These can be small or medium beans. The photo example is made with Great Northern beans. Some writers allow red beans but most insist on white.

  2. Potatoes:

      White Rose or similar all purpose potatoes work well here. Avoid Yukon Gold type because they turn to mush if cooked a little long. For details see our Potatoes page.

  3. Paprika:

      Please, real Spanish or Hungarian Paprika, not that sawdust flavored stuff they sell in the supermarkets. Both Spain and Hungary have Hot Paprika, but if you have only the regular, add a bit of Cayenne to the recipe to sharpen it.

  4. Rice:

      Most specialty Spanish rice is specific to Paella, but this recipe is not Paella and a California type rice such as Kokuho Rose will work fine (the Spanish, like the Italians, use medium grain rice). For details see our Rice page.

  5. Method:

      The main change I've made to the pattern recipe is in handling the beans. I soak them with salt, which makes the skins more penetrable, resulting in more even soaking and cooking. In the pattern recipe, soaked but uncooked beans go in the pan with water first, until almost tender, then the rest of the ingredients go in as above. Cooking the beans separately gives better control of their softness, and discarding the cooking water also discards some of the fart causing indigestible sugars. There is still plenty of bean flavor in this recipe. Also I have cut the garlic back from 10 cloves to 7, because Americans aren't accustomed to quite that much garlic.
  6. U.S. measure: t=teaspoon, T=Tablespoon, c=cup, qt=quart, oz=ounce, #=pound, cl=clove in=inch, ar=as required tt=to taste
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