Romanian Bean Stew

How to prepare romanian bean stew

1. Soak the beans overnight.
2. Start cooking the beans in one pot with water, the ham hock in another pot with enough water to cover it, and plenty of water in a third pot to have hot water ready for the next step.
3. After 30 minutes of cooking, drain the water from the beans. Transfer the ham hock to the pot with beans and pour in hot water from the reserve pot (the third pot), enough to completely cover the beans and ham hock. Simmer for about 1.5 hours on low heat. Then start checking the beans every 15 minutes until they're almost done (about 98% done!).
4. Remove the ham hock and keep it warm.
5. Drain the beans but keep all the cooking water and keep it hot on the stove for the next step.
6. In a deep pan, sauté the finely chopped onion in hot oil. When soft, add the crushed garlic. Stir quickly and immediately add the flour, stir until completely absorbed into the oil, then deglaze with 2 ladles of hot bean cooking water and the tomato sauce. Add all the seasonings and mix well. This is the roux.
8. Add the drained beans to the roux along with 2 more cups of the hot cooking water (the water should be 2 fingers above the beans). Continue simmering on medium heat for another half hour until the sauce reduces.
   * If after half an hour the beans aren't fully cooked, no problem - add more hot cooking water and continue simmering until done.
9. Add the finely chopped parsley.
10. Slice the ham hock.
11. To serve: ladle the stew into bowls and place a piece of ham hock on top. For a nicer presentation on the ham hock, heat about 4 tablespoons of oil and add 1 teaspoon sweet paprika, 1 teaspoon pepper, and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Mix well. Brush the ham slices with this mixture just before serving.

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