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Smoked Paprika White Bean Stew (Inspired by Fabada Asturiana)

by Faith 56 Comments

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Smoked Paprika White Bean Stew

Mike and I aren’t vegetarian, but we try to eat vegetarian meals two or three nights a week for our health and for environmental reasons.

After countless meals of veggie soup, hummus, lentil stew, eggs every way you can imagine, falafel, grilled cheese (or if you’re Mike, lebaneh (yogurt cheese) with tea, olives, and za’atar), and tofurkey, you start to look for new ideas. (Side Note: If you have a favorite vegetarian meal, please feel free to share!)

Smoked Paprika White Bean Stew 2

We love trying dishes from different cultures. Fabada Asturiana is a bean stew from Asturia that’s made with creamy fabada beans, which are similar to butter beans. Since Mike and I don’t eat pork, it’s ironic that this stew typically contains several different types of pork: always Spanish chorizo and morcilla (also known as black pudding or blood sausage), and sometimes prosciutto, bacon, salt pork, ham hocks, and/or longaniza (which is another type of Spanish sausage).

Smoked Paprika White Bean Stew 3

I wanted to recreate this dish in a vegetarian way such that the flavors of chorizo are echoed and complimented in the broth, which is why I used the particular herbs and spices that I did. I’m not calling this recipe an authentic Asturian Bean Stew, but for being vegetarian (vegan, actually), it does a pretty good job of mimicking the flavors found in the authentic dish.

I like to eat this stew along with garlicky braised kale and crusty bread. Mike likes to eat it topped with chopped onion and tomato and a healthy drizzle of olive oil, along with Arabic bread. Either way, it’s a definite winner.

Smoked Paprika White Bean Stew 4

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Smoked Paprika White Bean Stew {Vegan}
Prep time: 
Total time: 
Yield: 6 servings
 
Ingredients
  • 1¾ cups (350 g) dried white beans or butter beans (I used Great Northern beans)
  • 4 to 5 cups low-sodium vegetable stock
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 2 large onions, chopped
  • 4 large cloves garlic, minced
  • 1½ tablespoons minced fresh thyme
  • 4 teaspoons smoked sweet paprika
  • 1 teaspoon cumin
  • ½ teaspoon black pepper
  • ¼ teaspoon ground saffron or a generous pinch of saffron threads
  • ⅛ teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1 bay leaf
  • ¾ teaspoon salt
Instructions
  1. Soak the beans overnight in cold water (1 part beans, 3 parts water).
  2. The next day, drain the beans and add them to a heavy-bottomed 3-quart pot with a lid. Add 4 cups vegetable stock to the beans along with the olive oil, onion, garlic, thyme, paprika, cumin, black pepper, saffron, cinnamon, and bay leaf.
  3. Bring to a boil, then turn the heat down to low, cover the pot, and let it gently simmer until the beans are tender, about 1½ to 2 hours, stirring every so often and adding up to 1 cup more stock if necessary to make sure the beans are always covered with liquid.
  4. Turn off the heat and stir in the salt. Taste and adjust the seasonings as desired. Serve.

Update (February 18, 2015): I made this dish again and perfected the recipe and snapped a few pictures, so I decided to update both the recipe and the photos in this post.

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Comments

  3. Cara says

    November 4, 2010 at 9:26 pm

    Sweet Potato black bean burritos!
    They are so good.
    I cook the sweet potato/bean mixture in a pan
    (along with a splash of apple cider, cumin, cinnamon)
    and then put into a wrap (sprinkle with some cheese if you like)
    and then bake in the oven for about 15mins.
    So so good! I promise!

    Perfect with a side of salsa or sour cream.

    Reply

  6. Katerina says

    November 5, 2010 at 12:52 am

    I like that you made this dish totally vegetarian. It’s good for our health to eat couple of times per week only vegetarian dishes. I am sure it tasted great.

    Reply

  12. deana@lostpastremembered says

    November 5, 2010 at 8:19 am

    Lovely stew and I can imagine it would be great with kale on the side (and there is a spectacular kale recipe in the NYTs today… grilled!). I do need to eat more things like this after the rich food I’ve been making lately…. thanks for the recipe!

    Reply

  17. Lazaro says

    November 5, 2010 at 9:57 am

    Faith,

    Love it. I grew up eating Fabada. It is one of my favorite dishes of all time. Great job with your version. I need to try it with Arabic bread.

    There is a product called Soyrizo that I buy in Whole Foods. It has some great spice flavor and is a good alternative to chorizo.

    I shared this post on my facebook page. Two thumbs way up!

    Reply

  19. Erica says

    November 5, 2010 at 11:20 am

    wow- this looks totally delicious. Heavy on the beans- my kind of soup! I’ve never heard of anything like this. Vegetarian meals are (obviously) my usual, but Josh really enjoys them too. They open up the possibilities of what dinner can be. Hope you two have a great weekend

    Reply

  26. Veronica says

    November 5, 2010 at 4:56 pm

    Mmmm, this looks just like the dishes I was raised on! In the winter we’d have pots and pots of beans along with huge chunks of buttered cornbread. My favorite vegetarian meal is falafel smothered with tzatziki in pita pockets. Second place is bean and cheese burritos!

    Reply

  28. Monet says

    November 5, 2010 at 9:26 pm

    Oh yes, this would be perfect with some crusty sourdough bread. I adore bean soup, especially as the days get colder. My husband is a vegetarian, so we eat meatless most nights of the week. Thank you for sharing another great recipe with me!

    Reply

  29. Jeanne says

    November 5, 2010 at 9:48 pm

    I don’t think I would ever get sick of lentil soup, but this stew looks like a great addition to my vegetarian repertoire! I love the flavors!

    Reply

  31. MaryMoh says

    November 6, 2010 at 12:36 am

    Love that creamy bean soup. Looks very delicious. I’m not sure whether I can find here but I suppose I can try with other beans. Would love to try. Thanks very much for dropping by while I was away. Hope you have a great weekend.

    Reply

  33. Joanne says

    November 6, 2010 at 3:30 am

    I love this attempt to mimic pork but in an all-natural no preservatives kind of way! You did a fantastic job and when I want my next bacon fix…I’m going to make this instead!

    Reply

  36. Barbara @ Modern Comfort Food says

    November 6, 2010 at 9:36 am

    Nice one, Faith. We’re having our first cool fall day today, and this recipe would really hit the spot for tonight. The dinner menu at our house also typically includes two or three vegetarian meals a week. So good, so good for us, and budget minded too.

    Reply

  38. Magic of Spice says

    November 6, 2010 at 11:04 am

    What lovely flavors…I am sure I would be crazy for this type of bean dish. I make several bean soups, and you are right, sometimes we need to think up something a bit different when eating vegetarian. Looks fantastic :)
    And congratulations to your winner :)

    Reply

  40. Reeni says

    November 6, 2010 at 3:22 pm

    Your bean stew looks so hearty and delicious Faith! And I like the kale alongside it – I just made soup with white beans and kale – they’re a nice combo. Do you eat bean burgers? Or how about roasted veggies tossed with pasta or couscous?

    Reply

  41. Julie M. says

    November 6, 2010 at 5:35 pm

    This looks like such a delicious bean stew! Yum! We love to make roti with tortillas. So good!

    Thanks for stopping by. It’s great to meet you! Have a wonderful weekend!

    Reply

  48. Diane says

    November 8, 2010 at 12:06 am

    I love bean casserole and this recipe looks very yummy. I have never been a doughnut fan, but I do like pumpkin so think I may try this recipe out. Diane

    Reply

  50. Chaya says

    November 9, 2010 at 9:21 am

    I don’t know how I missed this but it looks good and it would make a great vegetarian dinner.

    I had to come back and tell you to try that cranberry shortbread cake, on the Dorie bakers’ blogs. We all are agreeing that it may be the best cake, we made. Although, I am not sure if it is a giant cookie or cake. All, I know, is that we love it. I don’t usually bring up a recipe like this.

    Reply

  51. grace says

    November 12, 2010 at 4:13 pm

    even the fact that i’ve never even heard of asturia (shameful, i know, but geography was never my best subject) can stop be from being utterly smitten with this stew. i LOVE beans. :)

    Reply

  52. Chaya says

    November 15, 2010 at 3:44 pm

    I was not sure if you wanted me to link this up or you were just sharing. I did link it up but I will remove it, if I am mistaken.

    This is a warming way to use those beans.

    Reply

  53. Dwain says

    January 17, 2011 at 4:01 pm

    I was checking the web for related recipes, since I have this simmering away now. I saw you were trying to keep it vegetarian. Since you don’t want to use Chorizo, you can try just to add some spanish smoked paprika (sweet) aka pimenton. A little goes a long way, but a major flavor boost. Also, in Jose Andres recipe, he uses a pinch of saffron. Saffron and Pimenton – great spanish flavors.

    Reply

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I’m Faith Gorsky, the writer, cook, and photographer behind An Edible Mosaic. My goal is to inspire you to get in the kitchen and try something new! Feel free to email me with questions or comments.

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