Recipe: Cocotte of Paimpol Beans and Pollock

1 Soak the beans for 12 hours, changing the water 3 times.

2 Drain the beans. Then in a cocotte, pour a splash of olive oil and add your lardons. When they have melted, add your onion, let it sweat with the thyme and bay leaf, then add your tablespoons of tomato concentrate. Let cook like this for 5 minutes, then add 2.1 qt (2 liters) of water and bring to a boil, add the garlic cloves. Cover and let cook at a gentle simmer for about an hour.

3 Meanwhile, pour a good splash of olive oil into a pan. When it is hot, add your diced pollock, salt and pepper. Cook for 2 minutes, then remove from heat and cover.

4 After 45 minutes, test your beans. If they are soft, season with salt and Espelette pepper and cook for another 10 to 15 minutes.

5 Drain three quarters of your beans while keeping the cooking liquid. Then put them back in the cocotte, add your pepper strands and, carefully, your pieces of pollock, scraping well the browned bits from the pan. Then mix gently and simply reheat everything. Serve topped with the bacon julienne and the garlic clove in nice warm bowls. Keep this broth, your Sunday evening tagliatelles will thank you, smile.

Of course, you can also cook this recipe with other types of beans: northern beans, Soissons beans, Vendée beans, etc. www.haricotdesoissons.com