Shared Kitchen

Real food from scratch

  • Home
  • About us
  • Cook’s notes
  • Ilaria’s Kitchenette
  • Shop
  • Search

Pork Belly with Boston Baked Beans

—

4 July 2017 BY Julie Biuso
SERVES: Serves 4-6

Pork belly & beans 4 copy

These beans are quintessential comfort food and have a fabulous flavour made from few ingredients – mostly inexpensive ones at that.

Read the notes at the bottom of the recipe for more information and tips.

Ingredients
—

500g (1 lb 1oz) haricot beans 3 Tbsp brown sugar 1 Tbsp mild American mustard 2 large onions, peeled and finely chopped Freshly ground black pepper 350g (12oz) bacon bones, rinsed 750g (about 1 lb 2oz) piece pork belly

Method
—

1 Cover beans in cold water and soak for several hours. Drain and tip into a saucepan. Cover generously with fresh cold water, bring to the boil, remove any scum, then lower heat and cover with a lid. Cook gently for 1 hour, then drain, reserving cooking water. Transfer beans to a large heavy-based casserole.

2 Blend brown sugar, mustard and onions and spoon over beans. Stir well and grind on plenty of black pepper. Pour on enough reserved bean cooking water to just cover beans.

3 Bury bacon bones in beans and put pork belly on top, then push it under beans so that only the skin is showing.

4 Cover casserole with a lid and transfer to the centre of a cold oven. Turn heat to 170°C (325°F) and cook for 3 hours, checking and adding a little more bean water from time to time, if necessary. Remove lid, increase oven temperature to 220°C (425°F) and cook for about 45 minutes, until pork is crackled, adding a little more bean water to keep beans moist if necessary; do not pour the water over the crackling.

5 Transfer pork belly to a board, rest it for 5 minutes, then remove crackling and chop up into pieces, and slice or shred the pork. Remove bacon bones carefully (try to avoid the bacon bones falling apart into small pieces). Dish beans and serve with pork belly and crackling.

Pork bell & beans 5

Pork belly & beans

Recipe Notes

This dish is traditionally made with molasses which slows down the cooking of the beans, enabling them to be cooked for hours without breaking up, during which time the meat becomes very tender and gives tremendous flavour to the beans. However, I have tinkered with this and use brown sugar and a simple mix of onions and mustard, along with bacon bones which add a delicious layer of smokiness, and pork belly. The beans are a little more sludgy as a result – but unbelievably tasty! And don’t think the beans look too watery in the pic; by the time you carve up the pork belly, they will have absorbed most of the liquid. If liked, serve the beans in soup bowls (and you could add more reserved cooking water towards the end of cooking to keep them liquidy) and accompany with good dark brown bread and chilled beers – choose something dark and smoky.

My choice to go with the beans? Cavolo nero with a little garlic and chill Cavolo Nero

Cavolo nero on the plate

Cavolo nero on the plate

 

Share Share on StumbleUpon
StumbleUpon
Tweet about this on Twitter
Twitter
share on Tumblr
Tumblr
Pin on Pinterest
Pinterest
Share on Facebook
Facebook

Comments

  1. Susan says

    July 23, 2017 at 11:59 pm

    Hello Julie. I listened to this recipe on RNZ and am really keen to try it – thank you. I have some molasses which I have been looking for uses for. Would I just add a couple of tablespoons as an extra ingredient, or would this replace something?

    Reply
    • Julie Biuso says

      July 24, 2017 at 1:05 am

      Hi Susan,
      thanks for your enquiry. You would use molasses in place of the brown sugar. The beans will be firmer, not squishy as my ones in the photo. Soak the beans for a good 12 hours before starting the recipe. And let me know how it turns out!
      Cheers
      Julie

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published.

You might also like...

Get Crackling!
Read more
Pomegranate molasses
The easiest way to get acquainted with pomegranate molasses is to use it as a drizzle – try it over a tray of roasted vegetables for starters. And just like mint sauce, it gives lamb a fresh zing, but it also adds a fruity note.
Read more
All you need to know about roast pork and perfect crackling
Crackling. CRUNCHY crackling. Gorgeously golden, so fingerlickin’ salty, and so perfectly crackled you hear it shatter in your ears, and all lined with a layer of sweet creamy fat that melts on your tongue. OMG! Died and gone to heaven with this one.
Read more

About this blog

Julie Biuso

Shared Kitchen is an ongoing collaboration between longtime New Zealand food personality Julie Biuso and upstart food blogger Ilaria Biuso.

Subscribe

Keep up to date with all the latest.

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Essentials

  • 10 minutes with…
  • Tastings
  • Kitchen things we like
  • Reviews
  • Sites I like
  • Weights & measures
  • Copyright & disclaimer

Categories

  • Recently posted
  • Julie’s Blog
  • Ilaria’s Blog & Recipes
  • Special occasions
  • Breakfast
  • Lunch
  • Dinner
  • Dessert
  • Spring
  • Summer
  • Autumn
  • Winter
  • Wine & drinks

Posts by month

  • + 2021
    • February (11)
    • January (14)
  • + 2020
    • December (11)
    • November (17)
    • October (21)
    • September (19)
    • August (10)
    • July (7)
    • June (4)
    • May (4)
    • April (28)
    • March (15)
    • February (25)
    • January (13)
  • + 2019
    • December (18)
    • November (22)
    • October (19)
    • September (24)
    • August (27)
    • July (30)
    • June (19)
    • May (30)
    • April (38)
    • March (24)
    • February (24)
    • January (19)
  • + 2018
    • December (21)
    • November (25)
    • October (28)
    • September (23)
    • August (26)
    • July (27)
    • June (27)
    • May (25)
    • April (15)
    • March (21)
    • February (22)
    • January (19)
  • + 2017
    • December (13)
    • November (22)
    • October (23)
    • September (18)
    • August (25)
    • July (17)
    • June (22)
    • May (21)
    • April (19)
    • March (25)
    • February (19)
    • January (23)
  • + 2016
    • December (8)
    • November (17)
    • October (21)
    • September (22)
    • August (23)
    • July (13)
    • June (19)
    • May (22)
    • April (17)
    • March (21)
    • February (15)
    • January (15)
  • + 2015
    • December (20)
    • November (17)
    • October (10)
    • September (23)
    • August (16)
    • July (6)
    • June (14)
    • May (17)
    • April (8)
    • March (12)
    • February (8)
    • January (21)
  • + 2014
    • December (4)
    • November (2)
Shared Kitchen Online Shop

SHARED KITCHEN COOKBOOK

Buy our Shared Kitchen Cookbook

Get a signed copy by Julie & Ilaria Biuso

Gourmand Cookbook Awards 2015 Best Food Blogsite NZ

Gourmand Cookbook Awards 2015 Best Food Blogsite NZ

Julie Biuso at Home book

julie-biuso-at-home

Foodies Awards

Foodies Awards
Shared Kitchen

Shared Kitchen
Julie Biuso
2020

  • Home
  • About us
  • Cook’s notes
  • Ilaria’s kitchenette

© 2020 Please see our copyright page for conditions on use of content here

  • Home
  • About us
  • Ilaria’s Kitchenette
  • Shop
  • Categories
    • Special occasions
    • Breakfast
    • Lunch
    • Dinner
    • Dessert
    • Baking
    • Spring
    • Summer
    • Autumn
    • Winter
    • Wine & drinks
    • Back
  • Essentials
    • 10 minutes with…
    • Kitchen things we like
    • Recently posted
    • Reviews
    • Tastings
    • Tips & tricks
    • Something for the weekend
    • Weights & measures
    • What’s at the farmers’ markets
    • Back