Baked beans with smoked ham hock

Serves:

Ingredients

• 500g dried navy beans, Great Northern beans, or canellini beans,soaked overnight in cold water
• 1 kg ham hock, chopped into pieces by your butcher
• 1 medium onion, sliced finely
• 1 large garlic clove, sliced
• half a cup brown sugar
• 2 tsp worstershire sauce
• 2 tsp pomegranate molasses (optional)
• 2 tsp Dijon mustard (or any mustard will do)
• 140g (3 tbsp) tomato paste
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 cups water

Method

Preheat oven to 160C.

In a heavy-based large casserole dish, add soaked beans, and cover entirely in water. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and allow to simmer for half an hour.

Remove skin and any other visible fat on the hock. Add all remaining ingredients except the last two cups of water to the dish, cover and place in oven for 1 and a half hours.

Remove hock and dice meat from the bone, and then place the meat back in the dish, discarding bones and fat.

Add the last two cups water and stir through. Put back in the oven for another 1 and a half hours, or until the beans are tender. Serve immediately as a side dish or main on toast.

Not

• I used pomegranate molasses as I had it in my cupboard already. You can use normal molasses or just skip that ingredient, although it imparts a deep, wonderful flavour.
• I prefer my beans very soft, so I let this dish have a lot of cooking.
• This is SO delicious, I felt like having bean sandwiches for days after!
• This is the perfect protein-packed dinner for the whole family.
• This recipe was created by Kristine Duran-Thiessen for Kidspot, New Zealands best recipe finder

Serving Suggestions

Note