Boston-baked beans

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Don’t let your memories of canned baked beans and weenies deter you from trying this recipe now that you’re a grownup. These beans really are wonderful when made at home! They are made with white beans that you soak overnight first, then cook on the stovetop, then bake in the oven with a sweet, savory spice mixture and massive amounts of onions that dissolve into a fabulously complex sauce. The beans do take a while to cook, but it’s mostly oven time, so you don’t have to do anything while they are making themselves delicious. And they really are worth taking the time. You can make a big batch and freeze them in plastic containers and have them ready to thaw any time you feel like a barbecue! This recipe is based on a similar one in Passionate Vegetarian.
Instead of using the traditional salt pork, this vegetarian recipe uses a combination of miso and tahini (sesame paste) or peanut butter to add complexity, salt, and richness. You’ll never miss the pork!
Serve them with the following recipe for brightly colored cabbage and red pepper salad, and you might not even need the traditional hotdogs or hamburgers… I’m happy with the side dishes as long as I’m sure to have a few s’mores for dessert!
Or if you want to go a more traditional New England route, you can serve the beans with Boston brown bread (steamed brown bread with raisins and nuts), or buy our Rise & Shine raisin & pecan loaf for a close cousin! While our loaves aren’t steamed in a can, their slices would be right at home with these beans!

1 pound white beans (like navy beans or Great Northern), soaked overnight
1 tablespoon olive oil
3 medium onions, sliced thinly
sea salt or kosher salt
¼ cup molasses (don’t use blackstrap—it’s not quite sweet enough)
¼ cup tomato paste
1 tablespoon brown or golden miso
1 tablespoon dry mustard
1 teaspoon freshly-ground pepper
Pinch of ground cloves
2 tablespoons tahini or smooth peanut butter
Dijon mustard, to taste

1. Drain the soaked beans well, rinse, and place in a large pot with fresh water to cover by 1½ inches. Place over high heat and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer, partially covered, until tender; this could take anywhere from 45 minutes to about 1½ hours depending on the freshness of the beans. When the beans are tender enough to easily squish between your tongue and the roof of your mouth, turn off the heat. Drain the beans into a bowl, reserving the cooking liquid.
2. Preheat the oven to 275 degrees.
3. Heat the oil in a Dutch oven or oven-proof heavy pot with a lid. Saute the sliced onions with a teaspoon of salt until they are soft and have released most of their liquid. When they are translucent, but not yet starting to brown, add the drained beans and set aside.
4. Whisk the molasses, tomato paste, miso, dry mustard, pepper, another teaspoon of salt, ground cloves, and tahini or peanut butter together into a smooth sauce, and then add the reserved bean cooking liquid. When well-combined, pour over the beans and onions, and stir gently to combine. The liquid should JUST BARELY cover the beans. If it doesn’t, add just enough water to cover the beans. If you add too much water at this stage, your beans will be too soupy. Bring the beans to a boil on the stovetop. (Watch carefully at this point not to burn them.) Cover the pot and bake for 5 hours, checking once or twice and stirring them to make sure the liquid level is maintained.
5. After the beans have baked for 5 hours, uncover and stir. Taste them, and if the beans are soft and delicious and have turned entirely brown (rather than white beans floating in a brown sauce), they are done. If not quite there, return the beans to the oven and bake for one more hour. If the beans seem too soupy to you, let them bake uncovered for that final hour to evaporate some of the liquid.
6. This last step is crucial—the seasoning to taste. Are the beans sweet enough? If not, add a touch more molasses. They will probably need more salt. And I like to add at least a tablespoon of Dijon mustard to spark up the flavor a bit. Add these last few touches carefully, a little at a time, until your beans are perfect. I like to enlist my family to help me judge. More molasses? More salt? More mustard? They don’t seem to mind! You can serve them now, or let them sit overnight and serve them the next day—at which point they may need a bit more salt and mustard.  Enjoy!