Michirones Murcianos

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Large heavy pot or olla, 5 to 6 litres
• •Skimming spoon
• •Cazuelas de barro for serving

Instructions

1. 1

   Soak the habas

   Rinse the dried fava beans and put them in a large bowl with plenty of cold water, at least 8cm above the beans. Soak them for 24 hours, changing the water once. This is the step that decides the pot: a dried fava has a stubborn skin and a big heart, and without the full soak the outside splits before the middle turns creamy.

   Use whole dried favas with their skins, not peeled split favas, if you can. Split favas cook faster, but they collapse into a thicker, softer stew and you lose the bite that makes michirones themselves.
2. 2

   Start cold

   Drain the soaked beans and put them in a 5 to 6 litre heavy pot with the jamón bone, panceta, onion, garlic, bay leaves, cracked peppercorns, and 2 litres cold water. The water should cover everything by about 3cm. Bring it up slowly over medium heat, skim the grey foam as it rises, and do not add salt yet. The cured pork will speak first.

3. 3

   Hold the simmer

   Lower the heat and keep the pot at a steady, gentle simmer for 1 hour 15 minutes to 1 hour 30 minutes, partly covered. The beans should move a little, not jump. If the liquid drops below the beans, add hot water in small splashes, up to 500ml in all. A hard boil knocks the skins loose and muddies the sauce.

4. 4

   Redden the broth

   Add the chorizo coins and the whole guindilla. In a small cup, stir the pimentón and cumin with a ladleful of hot broth until smooth, then pour it back into the pot. This keeps the pimentón from clumping or catching bitter on the bottom. Simmer 45 to 75 minutes more, until the favas are tender all the way through and the broth is red, glossy, and barely soupy.

   Leave the guindilla whole for a clean heat. Break it only if you want the pot sharper, and then don't pretend you weren't warned.
5. 5

   Rest and serve

   Lift out the onion, garlic, bay leaves, and ham bone. Pick any good meat from the bone and return it to the pot. Slice the panceta into thick pieces, taste the broth, and add the 3g salt only if it needs it. Rest the michirones off the heat for 10 minutes so the sauce tightens around the beans. Serve in cazuelas de barro with bread and pickled guindillas.

Chef Tips

• •Buy whole dried fava beans with the skins on. Peeled split favas are useful in other pots, but here they turn too soft and thicken the broth before the stew has the right chew.
• •Use pimentón de Murcia if you can find it. It is sweet and rounded rather than smoky, and it belongs to this region's larder. If all you have is smoked pimentón, use it, but know the flavor changes.
• •The chorizo should be firm Spanish cooking chorizo, picante if you like the heat. A fresh soft sausage falls apart and gives you grease instead of clean red broth.
• •These are better after a rest and very good the next day. Reheat gently with a splash of water, not stock, because the ham bone and chorizo have already seasoned the pot.
• •Serve with bread and something from the region if you have it: a young Monastrell from Jumilla or Bullas does the job plainly.

Advance Preparation

• •Soak the dried fava beans 24 hours ahead in plenty of cold water. Change the water once if the kitchen is warm.
• •The finished stew can be made 1 day ahead. Cool it uncovered until no longer hot, refrigerate covered, and reheat slowly with a little water to loosen the sauce.
• •Do not salt the soaking water and do not salt the pot at the beginning. The cured pork varies too much, so taste at the end and season then.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 415g)