White Bean Stew

Fabada or Fabada Asturiana is a very common winter dish in Spain. It is very fatty with the different types of meat that is included in it and, as you can guess, it originates in the Spanish Northern province of Asturias.

It is tasty and brings warmth to your body but I cook it without the meat since I don’t eat it any more. Still, our family recipe recreates the flavour well and is not as fatty as the meat version so you can have it as often as you like.

My mum used to cook this a lot throughout the winter and I can understand why. It is reasonably quick if you use jar beans (which sometimes she used) and very filling.

It is one of those dishes she used to class as “plato de cuchara” (spoon dish) as referring to the easiness of cooking, eating and tummy satisfaction.

If she used the dry beans, the preparation would start the day before but the result was worth it.

I remember with nostalgia how we all sat around the table and she would always say: “Fancied something like this with this weather, didn’t you?” and then she would proceed to tell us how busy the supermarket and how expensive everything was.

She was a very good cook indeed. One day I’ll be like her.

So please, enjoy this recipe that comes all the way from my kitchen to you.

You can find the step by step video to this recipe here:

Vegan Fabada

Servings: 4
Prep Time: 5 mins
Cook Time: 30 mins approx
Difficulty: Easy
Rating: stars
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Credit: The Spaniard’s Kitchen

Ingredients

3 tins of Canellini Beans or 3 jars of white Spanish Beans

1 Onion, cut in chunks

1 Whole Clove of Garlic, peeled

1 tbsp Sweet Paprika

1/2 tsp Hot Paprika (or to taste)
1 Bay leaf
Salt to taste
500 ml Water
1 Vegetable Stock Cube (optional)

Directions

1. Put the beans into a pot together with a bay leaf, onions, garlic and cover with water.
2. Then add the sweet paprika, the hot paprika, mix and add some salt as well as a splash of olive oil. You can also add the vegetable stock if using.
3. Bring to the boil and then let it simmer for about 30 mins.
4. Half way through cooking, mash a few beans to allow the stew to thicken. If you cannot manage to get it to thicken this way, you can use flour or cornflour.
5. Serve hot with chunky bread and enjoy!