Chef Isabel
Alubias de La Bañeza con Boletus
This León guiso pairs La Bañeza beans with wild boletus, a quiet autumn stew where the beans simmer gently and the mushrooms go in near the end, while they still have bite and perfume.
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Carillas Extremeñas
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Carillas Extremeñas are Extremadura's quick black-eyed bean stew, built on a slow sofrito and the smoky red pimentón of La Vera, with chorizo giving the pot its backbone.
Soups & Stews
Spanish
Comfort Food
Budget Friendly
Weeknight
15 min
Active Time
1 hr 5 min cook•1 hr 20 min total
Yield4 servings
Carillas Extremeñas belong to Extremadura: small black-eyed beans, called chiquillos con chaleco, little children in waistcoats, stewed with chorizo, bay, garlic, and pimentón de la Vera. This is cocina de cuchara, spoon food, but quicker than most bean pots because carillas cook tender without a long soak.
The step that decides the dish is the sofrito, the slow onion base. Cook the onion and pepper low until they go soft, dark gold, and sweet before the pimentón touches the pan. Then take the pan off the heat to stir in the pimentón, because scorched pimentón turns bitter and there's no saving it by wishing.
If you can't find Spanish carillas, use dried black-eyed peas. They're the same family and behave well, though some cook a little faster, so start tasting at 35 minutes. What matters is the pimentón de la Vera and a real Spanish cooking chorizo, not a dry slicing sausage. No hace falta haber pisado España. You need the right red paprika, patience with the sofrito, and a pot that simmers kindly. Siempre sale, si lo sigues.
Carillas are old Extremaduran household beans, valued because they cook faster than many larger legumes and stretch a small amount of cured pork into a full meal. In La Vera, where peppers are smoke-dried over oak before being ground into pimentón, that red seasoning became one of the region's defining pantry ingredients. The nickname chiquillos con chaleco comes from the little dark eye on each bean, as if each one were wearing a small waistcoat.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
dried carillas or black-eyed peas
Quantity
300g
rinsed and picked over
Spanish cooking chorizo
Quantity
180g
cut into thick coins
onion
Quantity
1 medium
finely chopped
green pepper
Quantity
1
finely chopped
garlic cloves
Quantity
3
2 finely chopped and 1 left whole
ripe tomato
Quantity
1
grated
canned crushed tomato (optional)
Quantity
120g
extra virgin olive oil
Quantity
3 tablespoons
sweet pimentón de la Vera
Quantity
1 teaspoon
hot pimentón de la Vera (optional)
Quantity
1/4 teaspoon
bay leaf
Quantity
1
carrot
Quantity
1 small
peeled and diced
water
Quantity
1.2 litres, plus more as needed
fine salt
Quantity
8g, plus more to taste
parsley (optional)
Quantity
1 tablespoon
chopped
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| dried carillas or black-eyed peasrinsed and picked over | 300g |
| Spanish cooking chorizocut into thick coins | 180g |
| onionfinely chopped | 1 medium |
| green pepperfinely chopped | 1 |
| garlic cloves2 finely chopped and 1 left whole | 3 |
| ripe tomatograted | 1 |
| canned crushed tomato (optional) | 120g |
| extra virgin olive oil | 3 tablespoons |
| sweet pimentón de la Vera | 1 teaspoon |
| hot pimentón de la Vera (optional) | 1/4 teaspoon |
| bay leaf | 1 |
| carrotpeeled and diced | 1 small |
| water | 1.2 litres, plus more as needed |
| fine salt | 8g, plus more to taste |
| parsley (optional)chopped | 1 tablespoon |
Equipment Needed
- •Heavy 4 litre pot or cazuela
- •Wooden spoon
- •Fine grater for the tomato
Instructions
- 1
Rinse the beans
Rinse the carillas well and pick out any broken beans or little stones. There is no long soak here. Put them in a bowl while you chop the vegetables, and cover them with cool water just for those few minutes if they look very dry.
Old beans take longer no matter what the packet says. Buy from a shop with good turnover, and start checking tenderness early rather than trusting only the clock. - 2
Build the sofrito
Warm the olive oil in a heavy pot over medium-low heat. Add the onion, green pepper, carrot, and a pinch of the measured salt, then cook slowly for 15 to 18 minutes, stirring often, until the onion is dark gold and soft and the pepper has lost its raw smell. This slow sofrito, the onion base, is where the sweetness comes from. Rush it and the stew tastes thin.
- 3
Add garlic and tomato
Stir in the chopped garlic and cook for 1 minute, just until it smells good. Add the grated tomato and cook 6 to 8 minutes, until the oil shows at the edges and the tomato has thickened into the base instead of sitting watery on top.
- 4
Bloom the pimentón
Pull the pot off the heat. Stir in the sweet pimentón, and the hot pimentón if using, for 10 seconds so it stains the oil red. Do this away from the flame; pimentón de la Vera is precious and it turns bitter if it burns.
- 5
Simmer the carillas
Drain the carillas if you soaked them briefly, then add them to the pot with the chorizo, bay leaf, whole garlic clove, water, and the remaining salt. Bring to a gentle boil, skim any foam, then lower the heat so the pot barely bubbles. Cook uncovered or partly covered for 40 to 55 minutes, until the beans are tender but still holding their little shape.
- 6
Set the broth
When the beans are tender, mash the whole garlic clove against the side of the pot and stir it back in. If the broth is too thin, crush a spoonful of beans and return them to the pot; if it is too thick, add a splash of water. Taste for salt only now, after the chorizo has given what it has.
- 7
Rest and serve
Take the pot off the heat and let it rest 10 minutes. The broth settles, the pimentón oil rises in small red pools, and the carillas finish drinking in the seasoning. Serve in deep bowls with a little parsley if you like, and bread for the edge of the bowl. Pésalo, no lo adivines, then trust the pot.
Chef Tips
- •Use pimentón de la Vera, sweet, smoked, and Spanish. Ordinary paprika gives colour but not the Extremaduran taste of the dish. Add it off the heat and it will stay round and warm instead of bitter.
- •Choose a soft Spanish cooking chorizo, the kind meant to season a pot. A dry slicing chorizo will give less fat and less flavour, so if that's all you have, cut it smaller and add an extra tablespoon of olive oil.
- •Carillas cook faster than chickpeas or big white beans, so don't walk away for two hours. Start checking at 35 minutes. Tender with the skin intact is the mark.
Advance Preparation
- •The vegetables can be chopped a day ahead and kept covered in the refrigerator.
- •The finished stew keeps 3 days in the refrigerator and tastes fuller the next day. Reheat gently with a splash of water, because the beans thicken the broth as they sit.
- •Freezes well for up to 2 months, though the beans soften a little. Thaw overnight and warm slowly.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 450g)
Calories
585 calories
Total Fat
29 g
Saturated Fat
8 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
20 g
Cholesterol
40 mg
Sodium
1400 mg
Total Carbohydrates
54 g
Dietary Fiber
10 g
Sugars
9 g
Protein
30 g
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