Home made baked beans are so versatile and can be used on their own with toast or crusty bread, or with eggs and sausages for breakfast. They can also be combined with pasta or rice for a great brunch or lunch.

This recipe uses my favourite, butter beans, but could also be made with cannellini, borlotti or other beans. Oven roasted banana chillies, sage leaves and rosemary, added to the caramalised onion and ripe grape tomatoes create a tasty sauce in which to bake the beans.

I used my homemade baked beans to create the classic Italian Pasta e Fagioli using ditalini pasta.

Homemade Baked Beans

Ingredients:

• 1 can of butter beans, (or other such as canellini, borlotti ), drained and rinsed
• 2 punnets of grape tomatoes, chopped into quarters
• 2 oven roasted banana chillies, chopped
• 1 onion, chopped finely
• 2 cloves of garlic, chopped finely
• 5 fresh sage leaves, whole
• 3 sprigs of fresh rosemary
• 2 Tblsp tomato paste
• 1 tsp salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 Tblsp Extra Virgin olive oil
• 1 knob of butter
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/2 cup of chicken stock

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 180º C Fan Forced
2. Prepare a casserole dish that has a lid by drizzling some olive oil over the base and set aside
3. Chop the tomatoes in quarters
4. Then add olive oil and knob of butter to a frypan over a medium low heat
5. When butter foams add onion, sage leaves and rosemary sprigs and cook for 6 minutes until onion is softened and translucent
6. Add the chopped garlic and cook for one minute
7. Stir through  the tomato paste and cook for one minute
8. Add tomatoes and cook gently for 5 minutes till they are softened a little
9. Stir through the chopped  oven roasted chillies
10. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper
11. Stir through the chicken stock and add the drained beans
12. Place the tomato bean mixture into the prepared casserole dish and cover
13. Place the covered casserole dish into the oven and bake for 55 minutes until the tomatoes are well cooked and the sauce has thickened. Check from time to time to make sure that there is enough liquid and add a little extra water if necessary
14. When cooked remove from the oven, allow to cool a few minutes.
15. Serve with toast or crusty sourdough bread.
16. The beans can be made ahead and refrigerated until needed

Other Ways to Serve your Baked Beans:

1. Pasta e Fagioli:

Add cooked ditalini pasta or other small pasta and serve with grated parmesan cheese and extra freshly ground black pepper, crusty bread and green salad of mixed leaves

2. Eggs in Cocotte with Spicy Baked Beans:

Preheat oven to 200ºC Fan Forced.

Add 1/2 tsp of chilli flakes at step 4 and cook the baked beans as above. Then place the baked beans into a remakin and make a well in the middle. Break an egg into it, Season the egg with salt and black pepper and bake in a hot oven for  minutes until they are cooked to your liking. Sprinkle with chopped parsley and serve with your favourite toasted bread and some good Italian pork sausages