Fabada Asturiana • White Bean Stew

Oh darn! Was this supposed to be Meatless Monday? ;)

This is a very hearty stew that originated in Asturias, Spain. The word Fabada comes from Fabes a type of white runner bean cultivated in the autonomous community of Asturias. They are also known as 'Judiones'. My first father-in-law was a Spaniard and he made this delicious stew, unfortunately, I never watched him make it and never wrote down the recipe, but I know what's it' supposed to taste like. I searched the internet and found a recipe in Spanish. I'm going to follow it to the best of my ability.

1 lb fava beans (I'm using great northern beans, didn't find fava)
2 smoked ham hocks
2 Spanish chorizo2
2 Morcilla sausage (I can't find this and I don't eat it anyway so I substituted with 3 slices of bacon)
2 small onions or 1 large one
4-6 cloves garlic
1 tsp paprika 
parsley
salt to taste at the end

Soak your beans overnight. The next morning pour your beans along with the water it sat in into a large pot, you will have to add more water to cover the beans to double the height.... does that make sense? (If your beans come to 1/3 the height of the pot, then add water to 2/3 the height of the pot). Okay turn the heat on high and start to boil the beans with a drizzle of olive oil. Soon foam will form at the top of the water, skim that out. Add all the ingredients to the pot, lower the heat to a low boil and cover for about 2-3 hours until the beans are tender. Check periodically to make sure the water level is sufficient. You can let it reduce at the end. Before serving remove the large pieces of onion, garlic and bacon. Cut your sausage into slices (remove any artificial casing). Pick out the ham from the ham hocks if you so desire. Grab your spoon a slice of crusty bread! (For a thicker stew, remove some beans and mash them, return to pot).

Note for those of us watching our fat intake: Refrigerate your finished

stew overnight and skim the fat off the top before reheating.