Feijão Tropeiro

Method

1. Spread out the beans, pick out any stones or shrivelled ones and rinse them. Cover with about three times their volume of cold water and soak for 8 h (overnight is easiest). Soaking helps them cook evenly and stay whole.

   Add in this stepDried carioca beans (or pinto beans) 100 g

2. Drain the beans and put them in a 18 cm pot with the bay leaf and half the salt, then cover with fresh water by 4 cm. Bring to the boil on high heat, then simmer on medium-low heat with the lid half on for 40 min, until a bean squashes easily between your fingers but still holds its shape. Tropeiro beans must stay firm, so start checking at 30 minutes. Drain very well in a colander and remove the bay leaf.

   Add in this stepBay leaf 1Salt 0.4 tsp

   high heat→medium-low heat

3. In a large 26 cm frying pan, cook the diced bacon on medium heat for 7 min, stirring now and then, until the fat has run out and the pieces are golden and crisp. Add the sausage, cut into thin half-moons, and fry for 4 min more until browned. Lift everything out with a slotted spoon onto a plate, leaving the fat in the pan.

   Add in this stepBacon 80 gSmoked sausage (linguiça calabresa) 100 g

   medium heat

4. Add the oil to the fat, pour in the beaten eggs and cook on medium heat for 2 min, stirring gently, until just set in large, soft curds. Tip them onto the plate with the meats.

   Add in this stepVegetable oil 2 tspEggs 2

   medium heat

5. In the same pan on medium heat, cook the chopped onion and garlic for 4 min until soft and lightly golden. Roll up the couve leaves, slice them into very thin ribbons, add them and toss for just 1 min, until bright green and barely wilted.

   Add in this stepOnion 1Garlic cloves 2Couve (collard greens) or kale 60 g

   medium heat

6. Add the drained beans with the bacon, sausage and eggs and fold together gently on medium heat for 3 min, until everything is hot. Lift and fold from the bottom with a spatula so the beans don't break.

   medium heat

7. Lower the heat to medium-low heat and sprinkle in the cassava flour a little at a time, folding constantly for 2 min, until the beans are coated and the mixture looks moist and crumbly rather than dry or sandy; you may not need all of it. Season with the rest of the salt and pepper, scatter over the cheiro-verde and serve straight away, traditionally with white rice.

   Add in this stepToasted cassava flour (farinha de mandioca) 60 gSalt 0.4 tspBlack pepper to tasteCheiro-verde (chopped parsley and spring onion) 2 tbsp

   medium-low heat