Boston baked beans with bacon

First Nation people were baking beans, sweetened with maple syrup, a long time before the Pilgrim Fathers arrived. A rum distilling industry soon developed in New England so the maple syrup was swapped for molasses or black treacle and Boston Baked Beans were born. It’s hard to imagine that tinned baked beans came from anywhere else. They were the first thing I cooked after my mother shipped me off to university with a slow cooker and a copy of Jocasta Innes’s Pauper’s Cookbook and they’ve remained a firm favourite ever since.

500 g haricot beans, soaked overnight, then drained and rinsed

300 pork belly, rind removed, boneless, cut into large chunks

100 smoked streaky bacon or pancetta, cut into thick slices

1 large onion, finely chopped

100 ml red wine

4 whole cloves

½ tsp freshly grated nutmeg

1 bay leaf

1 sprig thyme

1 x 400g tin chopped tomatoes

3 tbsp black treacle

1 tbsp English mustard

Chilli paste or hot sauce, to taste

A dash of Worcestershire sauce

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Place the soaked beans in a large ovenproof casserole and add enough cold water to just cover them. Bring to the boil, skimming off any foam that rises to the surface. Boil vigorously for 20 minutes, then reduce the heat and simmer for a further 40 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 150°C (130°C fan).

Heat a frying pan over a medium heat. Add the pork belly and bacon and cook without oil until the fat renders and the meat is lightly browned. Transfer to the casserole with the beans.

In the same pan, fry the onion until soft and lightly caramelised. Add to the casserole. Deglaze the pan with the red wine, scraping up any browned bits, then pour this into the casserole as well.

Tie the cloves, bay leaf, and thyme into a small piece of muslin and add it to the pot. Stir in the chopped tomatoes, black treacle, nutmeg, and mustard. Add chilli paste and Worcestershire sauce to taste, then season generously with salt and black pepper.

Cover the casserole and cook in the oven for 3 hours. Remove the lid and return to the oven for a further hour, allowing the sauce to thicken and the beans to become very tender.

Remove and discard the muslin bag before serving.

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