Home Made Baked Beans - Da Bomb!

Ever since I've discovered how to make my own baked beans, I've not been able to stomach the tinned ones which admittedly, I used to love. Home made is sooooooo much better (I guess that shouldn't come as a surprise!)

The recipe I've been using is the by a food blogger called Quirky cooking. The recipe is designed for Thermomix cooking but doesn't have to be.

Ingredients for traditional baked beans:

1 brown onion
2-3 rashers of bacon (not necessary but do add a lovely little something to this dish)
3 tins of cannelloni beans (or a cup (160g) of soaked and cooked dehydrated beans)
1 400g tin of crushed tomatoes
60g tomato paste
25g malt
25g brown sugar (I don't use this but it's in the original recipe)
1/4 tsp mixed spice
2 bay leaves
extra water if you'd like to thin your beans a bit

1 - Chop and sauté your onion and bacon in a pot
2 - Add tinned or cooked beans, tin tomato, tomato paste, bay leaves, spice, malt and sugar and cook at a simmer for 15-20 minutes until the brew has thickened slightly. Add some water if you'd like a thinner sauce. Season with salt and pepper and hey presto, gourmet baked beans!

I've also modified this recipe a little to create a similar bean brew but instead of the tomato base I've used pumpkin and stock/broth:

Ingredients for pumpkin baked beans:

3 tins cannelloni beans (or a cup (160g) of soaked and cooked dehydrated beans)
A good wedge (300-400g ish) pumpkin which has been cubed
400-500g chicken stock/broth
60g tomato paste
2 tsp mixed herbs
1-2 tsp sweet paprika

1 - Place all ingredients into a saucepan and cook for 15-20 minutes until pumpkin is cooked.
2 - Mash the pumpkin with a fork a bit which should thicken the sauce. If you want the sauce a little thicker then sauté for a little longer at a simmer. Season with salt and pepper.

Both recipes have been a hit with my family too. We eat them for lunch, in toasted sandwiches, as a side dish to our main meal, in tacos etc. Good fibre and a sneaky way to get an extra veggie or two into my kids! They can also be freezes for future meals.

These recipes come with a warning tho: you won't be able to eat tinned baked beans again after you've tried home made ones!