Dominican Beans

Submitted by JoJoStar

"A Latin American staple. Serve with rice and you've got a wonderful meal. Gourmet. Serves 4 as a main course, or 8 as a side dish."

 

• Ready In: 1hr 55mins
• Ingredients: 13
• Serves: 4-8

ingredients

• 28 -30 ounces canned pinto beans, drained and rinsed
• 4 cups water
• 2 ounces fresh cilantro
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 2 large garlic cloves, chopped
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 3 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1 tablespoon distilled white vinegar
• 1 sweet pepper (italian frying pepper-halved lengthwise, stem and seeds discarded)
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1⁄2 teaspoon dried oregano, crumbled
• 1⁄2 teaspoon black pepper

directions

1. Puree half of beans in a food processor or blender with 1 cup water until smooth.
2. Tie cilantro into a tight bundle with string.
3. Cook onion and garlic in olive oil in a 5-6 quart pot over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until onion is softened but not browned, about 8 minutes.
4. Add tomato paste, vinegar, and 1 cup water, then bring to a boil and cook, stirring, 2 minutes.
5. Add pureed and whole beans, Italian frying pepper halves, cilantro, bay leaves, salt, oregano, pepper and remaining 2 cups water, then simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, 1 1/2 hours (mixture will reduce and thicken).
6. Remove and discard Italian pepper halves, cilantro, and bay leaves, then serve.

Reviews

[Ginny Sue]

These beans were very good and tasted like they had been made from scratch. I don't know what an Italian frying pepper is, so I used a roasted red sweet pepper instead. I loved the method of flavoring the beans with the cilantro tied in a bundle; it really added to the flavor. I served these beans as a side dish with homemade carnitas.

 

[amjatl]

Excellent recipe. My husband is Dominican and his grandmother makes stewed beans all the time. Everyone raves over her beans, and I've been looking for a similar recipe. Only thing I did differently was to use the Goya small red kidney beans. I have a very large extended family, and I have never known any of them to cook with pinto beans.

 

[ylietteguzman]

These beans are exactly like the ones my mother cooks for me when I come over and visit... They turned out absolutely delicious, even over a bed of brown rice instead of white!

 

[Cristina Barry]

I never cook with pinto beans, I usually sprinkle them over a salad. I followed the receipe, except for one ingredient - instead of grabbing a sweet pepper, I accidentally grabbed a hot italian pepper :). However, no regrets, I loved the spicy kick. I served it over basmati rice for my guests, and for myself since it was saucy, I ate it like soup with a dollop of sour cream to sooze the heat from the pepper. If you want the beans to be thicker, let the beans simmer for over 2 hours or cut back on the last 2 cups of water. Next time, I may experiment with either black or kidney beans. Thank you Jojo for a simple and great tasting recipe.

 

[JuliethCoOkS]

I love this recipe! So clear and defined! Thanks! Moved out of the nest and am now with my boyfriend and pregnant 5 months, so this will really help in the future.