A Spanish pork and beans stew

We had this in Spain a couple of years ago. It is often served as a tapas portion with some white crusty bread and goes very well with strong red wine.

Fabada

Ingredients

400g dried butter beans. Most types of white beans will work fine here.
600g piece of bacon
2 bay leaves
2 tablespoons olive oil
4 Rashers of back bacon chopped up - include the rind if it is thin enough to fry and be edible.
1 onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, sliced thinly
1 teaspoon paprika. I used La Chinata. (This is one of the most over the top websites for a spice that you will ever see. Take a look)
200g chorizo sausage
2 tins of tomatoes


Method


Soak the beans over night. Cook them according to the packet instructions. Usually about 40 minutes simmering is plenty. Drain them and put them aside. 
Cook the piece of bacon in about 2 litres of water with the bay leaves. This usually takes about 50 minutes. It will depend on weight. 20 minutes per 500g plus 20 minutes. 
Trim the fat off and chop the bacon into bite sized pieces.
Fry the rashers and cut them into strips. 
Cut the chorizo into matchsticks and fry it for a few minutes. Discard the oil that oozes out when you cook this. 
Fry the onion and garlic in the oil and add the chopped cooked meats. Add the tomatoes and bay leaves and simmer for about an hour.