Spectacular Spanish Beans One-Pot Recipe

The sweet smell of frying garlic and onions always reminds me of Spain and their wonderful rich cuisine full of yellow and deep red colours. This dish brings out the natural sweetness of allium vegetables with cinnamon, combined with the smoky heat of paprika and the saltiness of olive that makes for a well-rounded show-stopping dish. It's also gluten free, vegan and dairy free. 

Serves: 4

Prep time: 20 minutes

Cook time: 35 minutes

Ingredients

• 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 large red onion (180g), diced
• 300g leeks, sliced into half-moons
• 200g new potatoes, scrubbed and quartered
• 1–2 fresh red jalapeños or regular red chilli, sliced
• 6 garlic cloves, sliced
• 2 tbsp tomato purée
• 120g roasted almonds, roughly chopped (skin on is fine)
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon or 1 cinnamon stick
• 50g pitted black olives, sliced
• 2–3 tsp smoked paprika
• 600g tomatoes, roughly chopped
• 300ml hot water
• 1 x 400g can pinto beans, drained and rinsed
• 300g asparagus spears, halved lengthways if thick
• 10g chives, finely chopped

Substitutions

Fresh tomatoes: 2 x 400g cans chopped tomatoes

Asparagus: Tenderstem broccoli, runner beans or sugar snap peas

Pinto beans: borlotti beans or haricot beans

Method

1. Heat the oil in a large flameproof casserole over a medium heat. Add the onion, leeks and potatoes and sauté for 6 to 7 minutes, then add the chilli and garlic and cook for a further 2 minutes. Make sure you season well.
2. Add the tomato purée, almonds, cinnamon, olives and paprika and stir for 1 minute before adding the tomatoes and hot water.
3. Bring to a simmer, cover and cook for 15 to 20 minutes until the potatoes have softened. Stir in the beans, place the asparagus stems on top and cover for a further 5 minutes until the asparagus is cooked and the potatoes are soft.
4. Remove the cinnamon stick, if necessary, and garnish the finished dish with the chopped chives before serving.

This is an edited extract from Cooks by Dr Rupy Aujla (Ebury Press). Photography by David Loftus. Dr Rupy Aujla is a medical expert who develops delicious and nutritious recipes for his app The Doctor’s Kitchen. After being diagnosed with a chronic heart problem, through a food and lifestyle-based approach, he's been able to eat his way back to health. He’s also the author of several cook books.