Jacket potatoes with smoky homemade beans

• 1 hour 25 minutes
• Prep 10 minutes
• Cook 1 hour 15 minutes
• Serves 4

Our own recipe. The photograph is AI-generated.

• Vegan
• Vegetarian
• Gluten free
• Dairy free

Ingredients

• 4 baking potatoes (about 250g each)
• 2 tablespoons olive oil: 1 for the potatoes, 1 for the beans
• 1 teaspoon salt: half for the potatoes, half for the beans
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 1 tablespoon tomato purée
• 1 tin (400g) chopped tomatoes
• 2 tins (400g each) haricot or cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 tablespoon light brown soft sugar
• Black pepper
• To serve: a small handful of fresh chives (about 10g), snipped

Let's cook

1. Heat the oven to 200C (180C fan). Scrub the potatoes under the tap and dry them. Prick each one 4 or 5 times with a fork so steam can escape.
2. Rub the potatoes with 1 tablespoon of the oil and half the salt. Put them straight on the oven shelf and bake for 1 hour 15 minutes, until the skins are crisp and a knife slides easily into the middle.
3. When the potatoes have had about 45 minutes, start the beans. Heat the rest of the oil in a pan on a medium heat. Add the onion and cook for 8 minutes, stirring now and then, until soft and golden. Add the garlic and paprika and cook for 1 minute.
4. Stir in the tomato purée and cook for 1 minute, then add the chopped tomatoes, the beans, the sugar, the rest of the salt and 100ml water. Simmer gently for 15 minutes, stirring now and then, until the sauce is thick and glossy and clings to the beans. Add a splash of water if it gets too thick.
5. Taste the beans and add pepper, and a little more salt or sugar if needed. They should taste rich, smoky and gently sweet.
6. Cut a deep cross in the top of each potato and squeeze the sides so the fluffy middle pushes up. Spoon over the beans and scatter with the chives.

Tips

• Do not wrap the potatoes in foil: they steam and the skins stay soft.
• Faster: microwave the pricked potatoes for 8 to 10 minutes until soft, then crisp them in the hot oven for 20 minutes.
• The beans keep for 3 days in the fridge and freeze well. Reheat until steaming hot.

Swaps

• Cheesy: top with grated mature Cheddar. It then contains milk and is no longer vegan or dairy free.
• Sweet potatoes: bake them for 45 to 50 minutes instead.

Tags

• jacket potato
• beans
• smoky
• comfort

In Autumn comfort, Feed the family, Plant powered.

None of the 14 allergens is in this recipe as written. Tinned beans and tomatoes contain none of the 14.

Check every packet for allergens.