Fasole prăjită (Romanian fasting bean stew)

Name: Fasole prăjită (Romanian fasting bean stew)
Ingredients: 400 g dried beans; 4500 ml water for soaking; 6000 ml water for cooking; 100 g parsnip; 100 g celeriac; 2 medium onions (300 g); 1 medium carrot (80 g); 30 ml oil; 1 tablespoon pepper paste; 2 tablespoons tomato paste; 1 teaspoon salt; 1/2 teaspoon ground pepper; 1 teaspoon dried thyme; 10 g dill

Season - Fasole prăjită (Romanian fasting bean stew) by Julia M. - Recipia

Fasole prăjită is a Romanian fasting bean stew. A stainless steel teaspoon sits in the pot while the beans cook, an old trick to make them cook faster. The beans turn tender in a thick sauce with onion, carrot and root vegetables, and the tomato paste gives the dish its color. I choose beans that are roughly the same size so they cook more or less evenly. Preparation: 20 minutes. Cooking: 113 minutes. Resting: 8 hours. Total time: 10 hours and 13 minutes. Servings: 4. About 480 kcal and 23 g protein per serving.

Ingredients

400 g dried beans
4500 ml water for soaking
6000 ml water for cooking
100 g parsnip
100 g celeriac
2 medium onions (300 g)
1 medium carrot (80 g)
30 ml oil
1 tablespoon pepper paste
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground pepper
1 teaspoon dried thyme
10 g dill

Preparation

1. Rinse the beans and soak them for 8 hours in 1500 ml water. Change the water twice, using 1500 ml each time. 2. Put the beans in a pot with 2000 ml water and bring to a boil over medium heat. Leave a stainless steel teaspoon in the pot, following the old trick. After 10 minutes, drain the beans and add another 2000 ml water. Boil for another 10 minutes, then change the water for the third time. Peel the parsnip and celeriac, add them whole and boil for 75 minutes, until the beans mash easily. Remove the root vegetables, reserve 500 ml of the cooking liquid and drain the beans. 3. Finely chop the onion and grate the carrot. Heat the oil in the same pot or in a pan and cook them for 8 minutes, until the onion softens. Cut the cooked root vegetables into small pieces. 4. Add the beans and root vegetables to the onion and carrot. Gradually pour in up to 500 ml of the reserved cooking liquid, then add the pepper paste, tomato paste, salt, pepper and thyme. Simmer for 10 minutes, until the sauce thickens. 5. Turn off the heat and sprinkle with dill.

Notes

If you don’t have pepper paste, add 1 more tablespoon of tomato paste; the flavor will be simpler. Older beans may need another 15-20 minutes in the third batch of water, and beans of a similar size cook more evenly. If the cooking liquid seems too thin, mash a few beans and leave the pot uncovered until the sauce thickens. The texture is a little like mashed beans, except the beans stay whole. I serve it with pickles, without any other side. Keep it in a sealed container in the fridge for up to 3 days; when reheating, add a little water if it has thickened.