This one is one of those recipes I am just kicking myself I haven’t been doing for years and years, suggested by a sensible school mum the other day. It is so easy and the difference health-wise between this version and Mr Heinz’s is unspeakable…I didn’t ‘fess up that I had been opening the can for years; I pretended I had been making them as below (no particular recipe) forever.

So here it is. You’re probably all doing this on a regular basis already. It’s just ridiculously simple. Next time I will reduce the amount of bacon and onion only because my littlest child struggled with the sudden difference in texture and demanded to inspect the tin.

Baked Beans

Throw in a pan with some olive oil half a big red onion and a few rashers of bacon. Sauté until soft and aromatic. If you have boys the smell of this will draw them into the kitchen for a chat.

Add paprika, basil, salt and pepper, a tablespoon of molasses, about half a big jar of pasta sauce or sugo (I like Five Brothers Tomato) and anything else that you think will go well. I also add a big dollop of homemade tomato sauce/ketchup for extra sweetness.

Cook it down a bit with about half a cup of water. Add a can of cannellini beans, drained.

Pop it on buttered toast for brekky or over a bowl of rice or cous cous for dinner and Bob’s your uncle.

 

As a grand finale I urge you to have a read of the latest post of my all-time favourite food blog which is written by my whole food pin-up gal, Jude Blereau. Many years ago MSF Ali and I did a four-week whole food cooking course with Jude and there can just be no better grounding in food love than her teaching.

Jude has such a great take on what constitutes a ‘super’ food as well as her famous bone broth recipe which is very similar to that of my other foodie heroine, Sally Fallon who I saw speak several years ago when she headed up the Weston A Price Foundation.

If you’re on the hunt for a new recipe book you can’t do much better than Sally Fallon’s Nourishing Traditions.