Homemade baked beans with smoked pork

Soak the beans overnight (according to packet instructions).

Heat a large pot and place the tbsp olive oil in it. Fry the onions and garlic until golden brown.

Place the ham hock in the pot with the garlic and onions and fill with enough water to cover it.

Allow to simmer for 15 minutes, turn the hock and simmer for another 15 minutes.

Remove the hock from the pot, and carve into bite sizes pieces.

Add the teaspoon of olive oil to a frying pan on medium-high heat and fry the pieces of pork until starting to crisp.

Keep the bone.

Discard strain all but 1 liter of water from the pot you used to simmer the hock – keeping the onions and garlic in it. 

Add all of the remaining ingredients from the list above, including the sliced, fried pork and the bone.

Bring to a boil, and allow to simmer gently for an hour or so, stirring occasionally –  you want your sauce reduced and your beans tender, but retaining their shape.

If your sauce is reducing too quickly (and your beans not cooked), add a cup more water at a time.

Don’t over reduce the sauce, as it will thicken and be absorbed by the beans as it stands.

Recipe reprinted with permission of TheGorgeousGourmet. To see more recipes, click here.