Romanian mashed beans with pork fatback (fasole bătută)

Ingredients

• 250 g dried beans
• 1500 ml water
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 medium onion (150 g)
• 150 g pork fatback
• 1/8 teaspoon sweet paprika

Preparation

1. Sort through the beans, rinse them and put them on to cook in 1500 ml water with 1 teaspoon salt. Simmer over low heat with the lid partly on for 90 minutes, until the beans crush easily between your fingers. 2. Peel the onion and dice it. Cut the pork fatback into long strips and score them here and there. 3. Drain the beans and reserve 300 ml of the cooking water. Blend the beans, gradually pouring in 200 ml of the reserved water; transfer the purée to a platter. Discard the remaining 100 ml. 4. Put the pork fatback in a cold pan, without oil, and fry for 6 minutes, turning the strips, until browned and rendered. Arrange them over the beans. 5. Sauté the onion in the same pan, in the fat rendered from the pork, for 8 minutes, until softened and lightly colored. Remove the pan from the heat, stir in the sweet paprika and spoon the onion over the beans along with the remaining fat.