Alubias de La Bañeza con Boletus

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Wide heavy pot or olla, 5 to 6 litre capacity
• •Large frying pan for the sofrito and mushrooms
• •Skimming spoon

Instructions

1. 1

   Soak the beans

   Put the dried beans in a large bowl and cover them with plenty of cold water. Leave them 10 to 12 hours, then drain and rinse. This is not a fussy step; it is what lets the beans cook evenly instead of splitting outside while staying chalky inside.

2. 2

   Start the pot

   Put the soaked beans in a wide heavy pot with 1.8L cold water, the bay leaf, and 1 tablespoon of the olive oil. Bring slowly to a gentle boil, skim the pale foam, then lower the heat until the surface barely trembles. Cook like this until the beans are nearly tender, 1 hour 45 minutes to 2 hours 15 minutes, adding small splashes of cold water if the beans peek above the liquid.

   Do not stir hard with a spoon. Shake the pot by the handles now and then, so the beans move without breaking.
3. 3

   Build the sofrito

   While the beans cook, warm 3 tablespoons of olive oil in a frying pan over low heat. Add the onion, leek, carrot, and a pinch of the measured salt. Cook 25 to 30 minutes, stirring now and then, until the vegetables are soft, sweet, and dark gold at the edges. Add the garlic for the last 2 minutes. Pull the pan off the heat, stir in the pimentón for 10 seconds, then loosen the sofrito with a ladleful of bean broth.

4. 4

   Cook the boletus

   Brush the boletus clean with a dry brush or a barely damp cloth, then slice them thick. Heat the remaining olive oil in a wide pan over medium-high heat and cook the mushrooms in one layer until their edges take color and their juices tighten back into the pan, 5 to 7 minutes. Salt them lightly at the end. Crowded mushrooms go limp, so cook them in two batches if your pan is small.

5. 5

   Finish the guiso

   When the beans are tender but still whole, stir in the sofrito and the remaining salt. Simmer gently for 15 minutes so the broth takes the vegetable sweetness. Add the cooked boletus and simmer 8 to 10 minutes more, just long enough for the mushroom flavor to settle into the pot without losing its bite. Taste for salt and black pepper.

6. 6

   Rest and serve

   Take the pot off the heat and let it rest 15 to 20 minutes. The broth thickens as it stands and turns glossy around the beans. Serve in deep bowls with a little of the broth, plenty of beans, and visible slices of boletus on top. Bread beside it, of course.

Chef Tips

• •Look for Alubia de La Bañeza-León if you can. If not, use dried cannellini or small white kidney beans from a shop with good turnover. Old beans never soften properly, no matter how politely you ask.
• •Fresh boletus should smell clean, nutty, and woodsy, never sour or wet. If using dried porcini, soak 25g in 400ml hot water for 25 minutes, strain the soaking liquid through a fine cloth, and use that liquid as part of the bean water. Add the rehydrated mushrooms near the end with 250g sautéed firm brown mushrooms.
• •Salt after the beans are nearly tender. Salt too early can make thin-skinned beans slow to soften, and this dish is all about a creamy bean that still holds its shape.
• •This stew is better after a rest, but not better after boiling again. Reheat it gently, adding a little water if the broth has thickened too much.

Advance Preparation

• •Soak the beans the night before in plenty of cold water. They need room to swell, so use a bowl much larger than you think.
• •The stew can be cooked one day ahead and reheated gently. Add a splash of water as it warms, because the beans keep drinking the broth as they sit.
• •The sofrito can be made up to 2 days ahead and refrigerated. Add it to the beans once they are nearly tender.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 475g)