Baked Beans with homemade sausages - "Tavce Gravce" - North Macedonian dish

500g canellini beans raw

5 sausages

3 onions

5 cloves of BFF garlic

1 bay leaf

1 bullhorn pepper

1/2 TBSP whole black pepper

Dry mint to taste

1 TBSP dry vegetable stock 

1 TBSP flour

1 TBSP paprika

Lard or any other cooking fat/oil of choice 

Salt and pepper to taste

Wash the beans in cold water, put in a large pot, fill with cold water and leave overnight to soak. Drain and rinse the beans with cold water, place in a large pot together with 1 onion, bullhorn pepper and bay leaf and cover with water.  Let simmer until the beans are soft but not overcooked.

In a large baking dish put 1/2 TBSP lard or oil and distribute all over. Remove the onion and the pepper from the pot, with a large holed spoon transfer the cooked beans to the baking dish leaving some of the water to remain just enough to slightly cover the beans.

Add the dry vegetable stock, dry mint, while black pepper, chopped garlic, salt & pepper and mix all together.The cooked pepper needs to be pealed and roughly chopped and added to the dish. In a fry pan slightly fry the sausages and put on the side. In the same fat add the thinly sliced onions and sauté until tender and translucent, then remove leaving the fat in the pan and place in with the beans.

In the fry pan add a TBSP of flour and fry until slightly golden and add a TBSP of paprika, mix and remove from heat immediately (paprika gets quite bitter if burnt) and add to the beans and mix all well, add the sausages on top and place in preheated oven on 200' degrees celsius for 20 to 30 min or until golden and thickened.

Served with homemade bread if you're a keen baker and traditional North Macedonian "makalo" (garlic dipping sauce).

*****Recommended garlic varieties for this recipe: As this a North Macedonian dish, definitely using "Lokalen" would suit best. For milder tastes use Monaro Purple, Italian Purple or Dolovsky.