Cheesy, Spicy Black Bean Bake
Whether or not you’ve fallen for this cheesy white-bean tomato bake, we’d like you to meet its bolder counterpart, smoky and spiced, with lots of melty cheese. Black beans shine in a deep-red mixture of fried garlic, caramelized tomato paste, smoked paprika and cumin. The whole skillet gets coated in a generous sprinkling of sharp Cheddar or Manchego cheese, then baked until melted. The final result is what you hope for from a really good chili or stew, but in a lot less time. For a spicier rendition, add a pinch of cayenne with the paprika, or douse the final skillet with hot sauce. Serve with tortillas, tortilla chips, rice, a baked potato or fried eggs.
- Total:
- Serves: 4 persons
Ingredients
- 3tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 5garlic cloves, peeled and sliced
- ¼cup tomato paste
- 1 ½teaspoons smoked paprika
- ¼teaspoon red-pepper flakes
- 1teaspoon ground cumin
- 2(14-ounce) cans black beans, drained and rinsed
- ½cup boiling water
- Kosher salt and black pepper
- 1 ½cups grated Cheddar or Manchego cheese (from about a 6-ounce block)
Instructions
Step 1
Heat the oven to 475 degrees. In a 10-inch ovenproof skillet, heat the olive oil over medium-high. Fry the garlic until lightly golden, about 1 minute. Stir in the tomato paste, paprika, red-pepper flakes and cumin (be careful of splattering), and fry for 30 seconds, reducing the heat as needed to prevent the garlic from burning.Step 2
Add the beans, water and generous pinches of salt and pepper, and stir to combine. Sprinkle the cheese evenly over the top then bake until the cheese has melted, 5 to 10 minutes. If the top is not as browned as you’d like, run the skillet under the broiler for 1 or 2 minutes. Serve immediately.