Portuguese Beans With Rice

Ingredients

• 12 ounces dried white beans
• 4 ounces chorizo sausage (chopped into bite sized pieces)
• 8 ounces arborio rice (or other short grain rice)
• 3 ounces bacon
• 1 onion
• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 ripe tomatoes
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 tablespoons fresh parsley, minced
• 1 pinch red pepper flakes
• 1/4 teaspoon salt (or to your taste)
• pepper

Directions

1. 1

   Soak the beans overnight for at least 6 hours. Drain them and put them into a pot, covering them with cold, lightly salted water. Add in the chorizo. Cover and bring to a boil then lower the heat and allow to simmer for about an hour until the beans are tender but not overcooked.

2. 2

   While the beans are cooking, prepare the rice by boiling it in lightly salted water and straining once al dente. (Or you could use your rice cooker). Set the rice aside.

3. 3

   Peel the onion and garlic and chop together with the bacon. Saute them together in a pan with the olive oil. Clean the tomatoes, removing their seeds, and dice them, then add them to the saute pan.

4. 4

   Add the bay leaf, parsley, salt and pepper to the pan, as well as the red pepper flakes if you are using. Allow to cook on medium heat until the onions are fully cooked.

5. 5

   Add the rice to the pan, keep stirring, allowing the rice to soak up all the flavours in the pan for a minute or two.

6. 6

   Put the rice mixture into a bowl and stir in the drained beans and chorizo. Enjoy!