Fabada Recipe

Fabada Recipe

  • 1 pound dried Asturian fabada beans or dried lima beans
  • 1/4 pound salt pork
  • 10 cups water
  • 1/2 teaspoon crushed saffron threads
  • 8 ounces serrano ham, cut into 1/4-inch cubes
  • 8 ounces Spanish chorizo sausage, casing removed, sliced 1/2-inch thick
  • 8 ounces morcilla sausage or blood sausage, sliced 1/2-inch thick
  • 1 bay leaf
  1. Cover beans with ample hot water and allow to stand overnight.
  2. Fill a Dutch oven 1/2 full with water and bring to a boil over high heat. Add salt pork, and allow to boil for 5 minutes, then remove. Pour out water.
  3. Drain water from beans and place them into Dutch oven. Pour in 10 cups of water, then bring to a boil over high heat. Boil for 15 minutes, skimming and discarding the foam that forms on top. Stir in saffron, salt pork, and diced ham; simmer for 5 minutes. Add the chorizo and morcilla sausages, and cook for 5 minutes more. Skim any foam that forms on top.
  4. Reduce heat to low, add bay leaf, cover, and simmer until the beans are tender, 2 to 3 hours, adding water if needed to keep beans moist. Allow beans to stand for 20 minutes off of the heat before serving.