Beef loubia — white beans in red sauce
Beans that have absorbed the red sauce during 1 hour 30 minutes of cooking, meltingly tender beef and a concentrated garlic, tabil and harissa sauce: the Friday stew of the Jews of Tunis, even better after a night's rest.
Ingredients for two
| 350 g | Stewing beef, shoulder or neck, cut into 4 cm cubes Boneless chuck, cut into 4 cm cubes by the kosher butcher |
| 200 g | Dried white beans, for loubia 100 g dried beans per person; soak the day before |
| 120 g | Yellow onions 1 medium onion |
| 20 g | Garlic 4 cloves |
| 45 g | Extra virgin olive oil 4 tbsp and 1 tsp: 25 g to sear the beef, 20 g added before the onion |
| 45 g | Double-concentrated tomato purée 2 heaped tbsp |
| 20 g | Harissa 1 heaped tbsp; 15 g for mild heat |
| 4 g | Sweet paprika 2 level tsp |
| 5 g | Tabil (Tunisian coriander, caraway, garlic and chilli spice blend) 2 tsp |
| 2 g | Ground cumin 1/2 heaped tsp |
| 8 g | Fine salt 1 g for the beef, 7 g added to the casserole 30 minutes before the end |
| 0.5 g | Ground black pepper 1/4 tsp |
| 1400 g | Water 650 g for the beef, 600 g when adding the beans, 150 g in reserve; soaking water not included |
| 120 g | Bread (baguette or country loaf) For mopping up the sauce |
Method
- The day before, cover the beans with three times their volume of cold water in a bowl and soak in the fridge for 12 hours. On the day, drain in a colander, rinse under cold water and set aside uncooked. Heat 1.3 litres water in the kettle. Chop the onion, peel and crush the garlic. Pat the beef cubes dry with kitchen paper and season with 1 g salt.
- Heat 25 g oil (2 tbsp and 1 tsp) in a 22–24 cm casserole over a medium-high heat. Sear the beef in a single layer for 8 minutes, turning twice (work in two batches if the casserole is smaller: the cubes must not touch or they will boil rather than brown). Remove the meat once a brown crust has formed, leaving the cooking juices in the casserole. If the browned bits are very dark, take the casserole off the heat for 30 seconds.
- Reduce the heat to medium, add the remaining 20 g oil and immediately soften the onion in the casserole for 6 minutes, until translucent with golden edges. Add the garlic for 1 minute, then the tomato purée, harissa, paprika, tabil, cumin and pepper; stir for 2 minutes until the paste darkens, turns glossy and smells fragrant, without burning.
- Pour in 650 g hot water, scraping up the browned bits with a wooden spoon, and return the beef and its juices. The liquid should reach halfway up the meat; the level will rise as the meat releases its juices. Cover and simmer very gently for 45 minutes, turning the pieces halfway through.
- Add the drained, uncooked beans and 600 g hot water: the beans should be just covered. Cover and cook over a very low heat for 1 hour 30 minutes, with barely a few bubbles at the surface. Every 30 minutes, gently lift the beans from the bottom to keep their skins intact. If the bottom catches after the first hour, add the reserved 150 g water, heated.
- Thirty minutes before the end (after the beans have cooked for 1 hour), add the 7 g salt and fold through gently. Check after 1 hour 15 minutes: a bean pressed between two spoons should be creamy to the centre, without a grainy core, and a fork should enter the beef with almost no resistance. If not, cook for another 15–20 minutes, covered.
- Mash a spoonful of beans against the side of the casserole to thicken the sauce. If it is too loose, cook uncovered over a low heat for another 10 minutes: it should coat the beans without drowning them, with a thin red-orange film on the surface. Taste: the sauce should be boldly seasoned; adjust the salt if needed.
- Leave to rest off the heat, covered, for 5 minutes. Serve in shallow bowls with the beef and beans generously coated in sauce, bread for mopping up and a spoonful of harissa on the side for anyone who wants more heat.
Lighter version
- Extra virgin olive oil : 25 g
- Dried white beans, for loubia : 140 g
- Bread (baguette or country loaf) : 60 g
In step 2, sear the beef in 15 g oil; in step 3, add only 10 g oil before the onion.
In step 5, pour in 500 g hot water instead of 600 g: with fewer beans, they should still be just covered.
Half the oil, a little less bread and fewer beans: the sauce is unchanged and the dish keeps its full flavour.
On your plate
Recipe
956 kcal · protein 64 g · carbs 85 g · fat 38 g
Quantities per person
- 175 g Stewing beef, shoulder or neck, cut into 4 cm cubes
- 100 g Dried white beans, for loubia
- 60 g Yellow onions
- 10 g Garlic
- 22.5 g Extra virgin olive oil
- 22.5 g Double-concentrated tomato purée
- 10 g Harissa
- 2 g Sweet paprika
- 2.5 g Tabil (Tunisian coriander, caraway, garlic and chilli spice blend)
- 1 g Ground cumin
- 4 g Fine salt
- 0.25 g Ground black pepper
- 700 g Water
- 60 g Bread (baguette or country loaf)
Cooking tips
The 185 minutes exclude the 12-hour soak, which should be done the day before; particularly firm beef may need another 20 minutes. Cooking the beans in the red sauce is what makes loubia. If you prefer to use two pans, pre-cook the beans for only 40 minutes in unsalted water, until barely softened, then finish them in the sauce for 50–60 minutes, using 200 g of their cooking water instead of the 600 g. Prepare loubia on Friday to reheat the next day; cool quickly in a shallow container and refrigerate. Reheat leftovers gently with a splash of water.
Tunisian beef loubia in a red sauce of tomato purée, garlic and tabil, using soaked dried beans cooked in the sauce.
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