Baked Beans in (lots of) Tomato Sauce

I’ve always like baked beans, but recently I’ve eaten quite a lot of them. After reading the list of ingredients on a tin I realised there’s a bit more sugar and salt than I would ideally like to consume, and so I decided to make my own. The recipe I've given here makes a massive portion, so that you can freeze some of it in handy sized portions for easy use at a later date.

Makes about 10 servings

300g dried haricot beans, OR 600g ready boiled/tinned ones

1 ½ tablespoons olive oil

1 large onion

1 teaspoon salt

3 x 400g tinned tomatoes

140g tomato puree

10 large basil leaves

½ tablespoon honey

⅛ teaspoon smoked paprika powder

⅛ teaspoon ground cayenne pepper

Prepare the beans according to the instructions on the packet. Normally this means a 12 hour soaking plus 1 ½ hours boiling time. You can soak the beans overnight, plus during daytime before you are ready to boil them. A slightly longer soaking does not hurt them; it instead makes them a little bit softer.

While you boil the beans, make the tomato sauce.

Start off by very finely chop the onion. I whizzed mine in my magimix, to get the onion completely mashed. This makes for a smoother sauce. Warm the olive oil in a large saucepan, and add the onion to it. Add a teaspoon of salt, and sweat the onion for about 5 minutes.

Pour the tinned tomatoes into your magimix and whizz until you have a smooth mixture. Pour this onto the sweated onion. Alternatively, if you don’t have a magimix; pour the tomato liquid onto the onion and finely chop the tomatoes and then add them too. Add the tomato puree, stir well, and cover. Leave to simmer for about 30 minutes.

Add the beans once they are cooked and drained.

Finely chop the basil leaves, and add to the sauce along with the honey, paprika powder and cayenne pepper. I’ve suggested some amounts here, but you should taste while adding and find amounts that suit your taste buds. You might like your beans sweeter than I do, or maybe spicier.

Leave the beans to cool down, then place portion-size amounts in small containers, label them, and freeze until you want to eat them.