Serbian Baked Beans- Prebranac (Serbian = ?????????)

Prebranac is another traditional Serbian dish. It's very easy to make, however, it is not always easy to find the right kind of beans, and a really good smoked meat. I am presenting here Serbian style baked beans with easy to find ingredients.


Ingredients:

3 cups beans
1/2 lbs smoked pork meat
2 cups smoked chopped bacon
3 onions, finely chopped
1 carrot, finely chopped
1 tbsp paprika
2-3 bay leaves
salt and pepper to taste
oil


The best beans to use are large white verity (largest you can find). Those might be hard to find in your local supermarket. I bought a huge bag of red pinto beans at Costco for making chili, so I wanted to use those. They are smaller and tougher, but taste just as good.

First, soak the beans overnight to soften them. Keep them in the refrigerator while soaking, so that they don't go stale. When you are ready to cook them, drain the water. Fill the pot with new fresh water and cook for 10 minutes. Then drain that water and replace with a new hot water. Add bay leaves and cook for 30 minutes to 1 hour (depending on how tough your beans are). You want the beans to be soft when you are done cooking them.

When the onions are soft, remove big pieces of meat, and add paprika, salt and pepper and stir. Continue to fry for another 5-10 minutes.

Remove from heat and mix with cooked beans and smoked meat in a baking dish. Make sure you have enough water to cover the beans.

Bake covered for 15 minutes, and uncovered for another 30 minutes or until the crust forms on top.