Castillian Red Round Beans, 400g

Javier Velasco has been cultivating Ibeas beans for over ten years, as part as the crop rotation used in the harsh North-Central plateau of Spain.

The Ibeas beans take their name from a village called Ibeas de Juarros, near Burgos, where they were first cultivated, but, due to similar soils and a history of the cultivation of high quality beans, Legumbres Montes, buys from Javier who grows his pulses in the province of Salamanca to the south west of Burgos.

Production is very small. The beans are round, shiny and smooth with an intense purple red colour.

Delicate and buttery it is used in a local stew known as olla podrida.

Cooking your beans

Soak the beans until they are plump and smooth. Usually, 12 hours is enough. Sometimes you may need a few hours more, particularly if the beans are a bit older. In warm weather refrigerate the soaking beans.

When the beans are soaked, rinse and put in a heavy cook pot and cover well with fresh water. Bring the beans to a boil, reduce heat to very low and cover. Simmer gently until tender - usually for 50-55 minutes. NB Should you find the beans are simmering too hard, you can “shock” them (slow things down) with the addition of a little cold water.

Cooking times vary due to the age of the beans, water hardness and how gently the beans are simmered. Once you’ve cooked them a couple of times you'll get to know them.

Please note: Heirloom beans can reach optimum tenderness relatively quickly so keep an eye on them!

Harvested in Autumn 2022