All good and decent breakfast spreads deserve some slow-cooked beans. Nothing is more miraculous with toast and eggs, coffee, and a slab of avocado. It’s what slow weekends are made of. These also freeze very well should you find yourself with leftovers.

　　Note: I choose not to soak white beans overnight before cooking. Instead, I let the slow cooker do the breaking down for me. This is contentious because there is some concern around the possibility of food poisoning from beans, which contain the plant lectin phytohaemagglutinin. This protein can be toxic at high levels, so the usual advice is to soak your beans in cold water overnight and boil them briefly before using. However, the beans I have used in these recipes have the lowest rate of lectin across all bean varieties, and most of the newer generation of slow cookers run at higher temperatures, eliminating the risk of food poisoning. If you are concerned, I recommend boiling your dried legumes for 10 minutes before proceeding with the recipe.

　　

Ingredients

Serves 4–6

　　1 tablespoon olive oil

　　1 onion, finely chopped

　　7 garlic cloves, crushed

　　2 teaspoons cumin seeds, toasted and ground

　　2 bay leaves

　　1 cinnamon stick

　　1 chipotle chile in adobo, chopped

　　2 tablespoons brown sugar

　　2 tablespoons apple-cider vinegar

　　3 tablespoons tomato paste

　　200 g (7 oz; 1 cup) dried cannellini beans (or other white bean), washed thoroughly

　　750 ml (25½ fl oz; 3 cups) vegetable or chicken stock

　　200 g (7 oz) canned chopped tomatoes

　　

Prosciutto crumb

4 slices prosciutto

　　1 teaspoon balsamic glaze

　　2 slices sourdough, blitzed to a rough crumb

　　Olive oil, for drizzling

　　

To serve

Fresh avocado, yogurt or sour cream (optional), roughly chopped cilantro leaves

　　

Step 1

Set the slow cooker to the sauté function. Add the oil and, when hot, add the onion and cook for 3–5 minutes, or until soft. Add the garlic, cumin, bay leaves and cinnamon and cook for a further 1–2 minutes. Add the chipotle in adobo, the brown sugar, vinegar, and tomato paste. Cook for another minute before adding the beans and stirring to coat. Pour over the stock and tomatoes, close the lid and set the heat to low. Cook for 10 hours, or overnight.

　　

Step 2

You want the beans to be pliable and the liquid to have reduced to a thick and rich sauce. Remove the bay leaves and cinnamon before serving.

　　

Step 3

Just before serving, prepare the prosciutto crumb. Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F). Place the prosciutto slices on a baking tray lined with baking paper and drizzle over the balsamic glaze. Pop in the oven for 10 minutes, or until the prosciutto looks dark and golden. Remove and allow to cool, then blitz to a rough crumb in a food processor. Combine with the breadcrumbs, a drizzle of olive oil and a generous amount of salt and pepper.

　　

Step 4

Serve bowls of beans topped with the prosciutto crumb, a chunk of avocado and the yogurt or sour cream, if using, and garnish with cilantro.

　　Excerpted with permission from Slow Victories by Katrina Meynink, published by Hardie Grant Books, March 2021. Buy the full book from Amazon, Bookshop, or Hardie Grant.