We genuinely love cooking with lentils, chickpeas, beans et al. They’re not only delish, they’re great contenders for filling, budget-friendly, delish dinners that are perfect for coping with the exhausting, ever-increasing cost of living spikes. We figured it was worth resurrecting the concept of home-made baked beans; yeha they’re cheap to buy, but have you tasted them lately? They’re... sweet. This is sweet too but not-so as the canned ones, and it’s alluring smoky-tangy, which they are not. We add passata – traditional Boston-style baked beans don’t use it, but we figure a bit of lycopene can’t go astray. In the interests of thrift we didn’t add a smoked ham hock because $$ but lash out on one if you fancy, and shove it into the cooking beans, then shred the meat off when it’s fall-apart tender. . We fashioned a yummy crunchy, rustic topping using bread and bacon, and look. This recipe makes twice the bean mixture you need because there’s no point doing all that soaking and oven-baking for just four people. So cook like you’re still in lock down, freeze half, then huzzah! You’ve got food on hand for another meal. Thaw those extra beans when you want a weekend breakfast extravaganza; make toast, poach eggs, fry snarlers, then bask in hero status at yours. They’ll love you for it.

SERVES 2 - 4 (don’t freak, read the text! You can freeze half the beans

585g (3 cups) dried cannellini beans

2½ tbsp extra virgin olive oil

2 onions, peeled and coarsely chopped

750ml (3 cups) passata 

80ml (⅓ cup) smoky BBQ sauce

75g (⅓ cup, firmly packed) brown sugar

80ml (⅓ cup) molasses

1 tbsp powdered mustard

1 tbsp smoked paprika

3 tbsp cider vinegar, or to taste

3 sprigs rosemary (optional)

Topping

160g rindless bacon, cut into 2.5cm pieces

½ a baguette (approximately), thinly sliced

50g (½ cup) grated parmesan, or to taste

Extra virgin olive oil, for drizzling

Soak the beans overnight in plenty of cold water to cover. Drain well, place in a large saucepan with cold water to cover, then bring to the boil. Skim off any foam that rises to the surface, then reduce the heat and cook for about 1 hour 20 minutes or until tender, topping up the water from time to time if necessary. Reserve 250ml (1 cup) of the cooking water, then drain the beans well. 

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 180C. Heat the extra virgin olive oil in a medium frypan over medium heat, then cook the onions, stirring often, for 8 minutes or until soft and starting to turn golden. Remove from the heat. Combine the passata, BBQ sauce, brown sugar, molasses, mustard, smoked paprika, cider vinegar and the reserved cooking water in a saucepan. Bring to a simmer over medium heat, stirring to combine well. Season to taste with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. Place the beans and rosemary in a large casserole or dutch oven, then stir in the onion and passata mixture. Cover and bake for 1 hour or until the sauce is thick and bubbling. Remove the rosemary and discard.

Spoon half the baked beans into a 1.25 (5 cup)-capacity baking dish, reserving the remaining half for another meal*. Top neatly, or not neatly, with the bread slices, scatter over the bacon and parmesan, adding more to taste if you like, then drizzle with olive oil. Bake for 25 minutes or until the topping is golden. Serve immediately.

*You can cool, then freeze for up to 4 months. If the baked beans get too thick, add some water to thin it down a bit.