This snowy cold weather has me craving comfort food. The real hug-in-a-mug type stuff. Nothing green and healthy but something hearty and warming. Ask Idgy and she will always plump for beans on toast, but ever since she was a little girl they have just had to be Heinz beans on the toast, no others would ever fit the bill.
Well I am always up for a challenge and we didn’t have any baked beans in the cupboard, so needs must and all that – make your own and make them as near to the Real Thing as possible but I also wanted to cut the sugar content and make mine a wee bit healthier. There needed to be sweetness in there, so I used some honey instead of the dreaded white stuff.
They always say that the proof of the pudding is in the eating. Would these beans pass the test, would they taste even remotely like that old favourite?
Bet your ass they did!
Give this one a try if you fancy a culinary cuddle at this cold time of year and let me know what you think. I used a teensy bit of smoked paprika in mine as I always find myself adding just a wee dash of Tabasco to my beans on toast when they come out of a tin.
Karon x
- ½ onion finely chopped
- 1 garlic clove minced
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 300ml/1/2 pint tomato passata
- 3 tablespoons cider vinegar
- 1½ tablespoons honey
- Pinch of smoked paprika (optional)
- 300g/11oz cooked cannellini beans
- Salt & Pepper to taste
- Heat the oil in a pan and add the onions and garlic, stir and sweat but don't brown - 3 mins approx here.
- Add the tomato passata, vinegar, honey, smoked paprika and seasoning and simmer all this for about 5 minutes.
- Drain the cannelini beans and add to the pan stirring well.
- Cover pan and leave to cook for 1 hour just stirring now and then.
- Serve on hot buttered toast.
Sounds great – but what is tomato passata? Tomato paste? I’m in need of comfort food today – wish I could just go back to bed and pull the covers over my head – but off to work I go…the ice has gone and the rains have returned…oh joy!
Passata is a tomato sauce sold all over Europe and UK but I didn’t realise it was something of a rarety in USA. Basically to make your own just drain canned tomatoes and then push them through a sieve to remove all pips etc and get a smooth sauce.
Don’t use tomato puree or paste as this is concentrated and too strong.
Hope this explains things a bit.
Kx
This really looks good! What a day it has been, so this comfort food is just the thing!
Patti xxoo
Honey? It is sugar, just by another name. It is an added sugar. There is natural sugar within tomatoes. Is that not sufficient? Or might it be possible to use a tiny amount of stevia powder instead?
Oh for crying out loud, I am not stupid, of course I know honey is sugar and that there is natural sugar in tomatoes. I am talking about not using the commercial white sugar.