Mole Baked Beans with Saint Matthew

I first had Mole on honeymoon in Mexico. The rich, chocolatey, spicy flavours that you find in Mole are all those similarly found in Apostle’s Saint Matthew – Chocolate & Manuka Chipotle hot sauce. I can promise you by adding Saint Matthew to some homemade baked beans will transport you to the shores of Puerto Escondido, preferably sipping on an ice-cold Corona with a Mezcal chaser on the side.

Ingredients

1 onion 

2-3 cloves garlic

2 Tbsp oil

Sea salt

Freshly ground black pepper

1 ½ Tbsp tomato purée

½ tsp smoked paprika

4 Tbsp St. Matthew – Chocolate & Manuka Chipotle

1 Tbsp brown sugar

2x 400g tinned butter beans
180g passata

Queso Fresco or Feta cheese

Lime zest

Method
serves 4-6

Dice your onion. Warm the oil in a large pot, on a low heat, and add the onion. Season with a large pinch of sea salt and a generous grind of black pepper. Sauté the onion gently on the low heat, for about 5-6 minutes. Finely chop the garlic and crush it by using the side of your knife & smudging it into the chopping board. Add this garlic to the pot and sauté gently for another 5 minutes. 

Add the tomato purée, paprika, brown sugar and the St Matthew sauce to the pot, increase the heat to medium and cook for a further 5 minutes, allowing the flavours to seep into the onions.

Drain the butter beans and add to the pot with the passata. Simmer, stirring intermittently so it doesn’t stick to the bottom, until the sauce has thickened some.

Serve with sourdough toast or with St Valentine and Jalapeño Cornbread, crumble on Queso Fresco or Feta cheese, and add a quick zesting of lime rind.

Recipe by Kylee Newton, The Modern Preserver