Potaje de Berzas con Fariñona

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Large heavy olla or Dutch oven, 6 to 7 litres
• •Skimming spoon
• •Small frying pan for the refrito
• •Slotted spoon

Instructions

1. 1

   Soak and start

   Drain the soaked beans and put them in a heavy 6 to 7 litre pot with the lacón, panceta or tocino, chorizos, whole onion, 2 whole garlic cloves, and bay leaf. Cover with cold water by 5cm, about 2.5 litres. Bring it up slowly over medium heat, skimming the grey foam as it rises. Start cold and be patient; beans that meet hard heat too quickly split before they soften.

   If your lacón is very salty, soak it overnight in cold water and change the water once. Salt is easier to add at the end than to take back.
2. 2

   Keep a low tremble

   Lower the heat and hold the pot at a bare tremble for about 1 hour 15 minutes, until the beans are half tender but not creamy yet. Do not stir with a spoon. Shake the pot by the handles if anything threatens to catch. If the liquid drops below the beans, add a small splash of cold water, asustar las fabes, to steady the simmer.

3. 3

   Blanch the berza

   While the beans cook, bring a separate pot of salted water to a boil. Add the chopped berza or collard greens and boil 5 minutes, then drain well. This takes off the raw edge and compacts the greens, so they join the stew instead of floating around it. Add the drained greens to the beans and cook 30 minutes more.

4. 4

   Add the potatoes

   Add the snapped potato chunks to the pot. Chascar the potatoes, cut partway and break them the rest of the way, so the rough edges give a little starch to the broth. Cook gently for 25 to 30 minutes, until the potatoes are tender and the beans are creamy all the way through.

5. 5

   Make the refrito

   Warm the olive oil in a small pan and cook the sliced garlic just until pale gold. Take the pan off the heat and stir in the sweet pimentón for a few seconds, only until it smells round and smoky. Do not let it scorch, or it turns bitter. Stir this refrito, the garlic and pimentón oil, into the pot with a gentle shake.

6. 6

   Add fariñona late

   Lay the whole fariñona on top of the stew, keep the heat low, and cook 20 to 25 minutes more at the softest tremble. This is the step that decides the dish. Fariñona is thickened with flour, so it seasons the broth beautifully, but if you boil it hard or cook it too long it breaks apart and clouds the pot. Late and gentle. Siempre sale, si lo sigues.

   Leave the casing intact. If it looks very tight, make one tiny pinprick, no more.
7. 7

   Rest and serve

   Turn off the heat and rest the pot 15 minutes. Lift out the lacón, panceta, chorizos, and fariñona, then slice them thickly. Remove the onion, whole garlic, and bay leaf. Taste the broth and salt only now, after the cured meats have given what they have. Serve deep bowls with berza, beans, potatoes, and a piece of each meat. Pésalo, no lo adivines, and then let the pot do its work.

Chef Tips

• •Fariñona is the special piece. If you cannot find it, use morcilla asturiana, or morcilla de cebolla at a pinch, and add it at the same late point. The broth will be a little less softly thick from the flour, but it will still belong near the dish.
• •Berza is not tender green cabbage. Collard greens are the closest substitute for a cook far from Asturias; lacinato kale works if you must, but it cooks faster and tastes less cabbage-sweet.
• •Use fabes if you can, judión or good cannellini if you cannot. Old beans stay chalky no matter how politely you ask, so buy from a shop with turnover and soak them fully.
• •Salt late. Between lacón, panceta, chorizo, and fariñona, the pot may already have enough. Taste after the rest, not before.
• •This potaje is better the next day, but the fariñona slices best when handled gently. Reheat the stew low and slow, with a splash of water if it has thickened.
• •Drink Asturian sidra natural with it if you can find it. A dry cider suits the pork and greens better than a heavy red.

Advance Preparation

• •Soak the beans 12 hours in plenty of cold water. If the kitchen is warm, keep the bowl in the refrigerator.
• •Soak very salty lacón 2 hours, or overnight for a hard-cured piece, changing the water once.
• •Wash, stem, chop, and blanch the berza up to 1 day ahead; chill it covered after draining well.
• •For the cleanest make-ahead version, cook the pot through the potatoes 1 day ahead without the fariñona. Reheat gently the next day, add the fariñona for the final 20 to 25 minutes, then rest and serve.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 720g)