There’s gonna be a lot of slow cooker recipes coming up now autumn has set in!

Earlier this year we had a great breakfast in London at a coffee place called Salvation Janes. I had homemade beans with ham hock and feta and have been hankering after them ever since.

So I’ve finally got round to making my own big batch of beans and ham hock to have at work for lunches and to make weekend brekkie more tasty.

This is such a good value dish- a whole hock cost me £2.29 from Leigh market and I only used half for this – the rest of the meat was frozen for another day. A 500g bag of haricot beans were about a pound and everything else was in the cupboard. It looks like it takes a long time to make, but actually all of that time is spent cooking. I reckon there is no more than ten minutes of prep and ten minutes of hob time in total.

If you shred the ham it kind of melts into the beans. If you fancy it more chunky, simply cut it in to small chunks instead.

One last tip. You know how slow cooker recipes always say use less liquid than in normal cooking? Well ignore that here. These beans are thirsty, so keep an eye on them as you may need to add more stock.

Slow Cooker Beans and Ham Hock

Serves – lots! I got nine small portions out of it- enough for a jacket potato or toast.

•  500g bag dried haricot beans
• 1 ham hock
• Veg stock – 1.5-2l
• Tomato puree- a small tin
• Smoked paprika- 1 tsp
• Cayenne pepper – 1 tsp
• Salt and pepper

You’ll also need a slow cooker.

What you do

First, get your ham cooked.

• You need do nothing more than put it in the slow cooker on low. I don’t add any flavouring or stock – no need!
• Put on a plate to cool and drain any fat which has come out during cooking
• When cool, remove the fat, and shred the meat or cut into small chunks
• You only need half so find a good use for the rest!

Now to pull it all together.

• Rinse the haricot beans and put in a pan of boiling water. Simmer for 10 mins then drain
• Put the beans in the slow cooker, along with 1.5l of the hot stock, tomato puree, paprika and cayenne. Mix well to ensure the spices and tomato are well mixed in
• Add your shredded ham hock
• Lid on, cook on low for 5-7 hours
• Check every couple of hours, give a stir and add more stock if it looks like they are drying up
• Check the seasoning before serving
• Enjoy!

Even though the ham is being cooked twice it doesn’t seem to overcook- slow cooker alchemy!