Chef Isabel
Aguaillo de la Sierra de Cadiz
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Caricos Montañeses
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Caricos Montañeses belong to Cantabria: small red beans from the Cabuérniga valleys, stewed low and steady with pimentón and cumin until the broth turns creamy.
Soups & Stews
Spanish
Comfort Food
Budget Friendly
One Pot
20 min
Active Time
2 hr 30 min cook•14 hr 50 min total
Yield6 servings
Caricos Montañeses are Cantabria's red bean stew, not cocido montañés and not a fabada in another coat. The beans are the point: small, round, reddish caricos from the valleys around Cabuérniga, with thin skins and a creamy inside when you treat them gently.
The method that decides the dish is the simmer. Soak the beans well, start them in cold water, and keep the pot at a quiet tremble, never a hard boil. Boil them hard and the skins split, the broth goes rough, and you've lost the thing that makes caricos so good. Low heat gives you whole beans in a thick, brick-red broth scented with pimentón and a little cumin.
If you can't find true caricos where you are, use small dried red beans, cranberry beans, or borlotti. They won't be as delicate, and they may take longer, but the dish still works if you soak them and keep the heat kind. No hace falta haber pisado España. Con buenos ingredientes y paciencia, it comes out.
In my Margin for this one I wrote only this: do not hurry the bean. It sounds too plain, but that's the recipe. Siempre sale, si lo sigues.
Caricos belong to Cantabria's mountain valleys, especially Cabuérniga and the wider Saja-Nansa country, where small red beans were grown for the slow cocina de cuchara, spoon food, that suited a cold, wet north. Unlike cocido montañés, which is built around berza, white beans, and pork from the matanza, caricos keep the bean at the center and often use only a modest vegetable base with pimentón and cumin. The dish shows the old Cantabrian habit of making a pot meal from what the valley gave: beans that stored well, garden vegetables, olive oil or pork fat when there was any, and time.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
dried caricos
Quantity
500g
soaked overnight
onion
Quantity
1 large
finely chopped
green pepper
Quantity
1
finely chopped
carrot
Quantity
1 medium
finely chopped
leek
Quantity
1
white and pale green parts only, finely chopped
garlic
Quantity
3 cloves
minced
extra virgin olive oil
Quantity
100ml
bay leaf
Quantity
1
sweet pimentón de la Vera
Quantity
1 teaspoon
ground cumin
Quantity
1/2 teaspoon
dried ñora pepper (optional)
Quantity
1 small
soaked, flesh scraped
Spanish chorizo (optional)
Quantity
150g
left whole
cold water
Quantity
1.8 liters, plus more as needed
fine sea salt
Quantity
10g, plus more to taste
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| dried caricossoaked overnight | 500g |
| onionfinely chopped | 1 large |
| green pepperfinely chopped | 1 |
| carrotfinely chopped | 1 medium |
| leekwhite and pale green parts only, finely chopped | 1 |
| garlicminced | 3 cloves |
| extra virgin olive oil | 100ml |
| bay leaf | 1 |
| sweet pimentón de la Vera | 1 teaspoon |
| ground cumin | 1/2 teaspoon |
| dried ñora pepper (optional)soaked, flesh scraped | 1 small |
| Spanish chorizo (optional)left whole | 150g |
| cold water | 1.8 liters, plus more as needed |
| fine sea salt | 10g, plus more to taste |
Equipment Needed
- •Large heavy pot or olla, 5 to 6 liters
- •Wooden spoon
- •Ladle
Instructions
- 1
Soak the beans
Put the caricos in a large bowl, cover with plenty of cold water, and leave them overnight, 10 to 12 hours. Drain them before cooking. Pésalo, no lo adivines: 500g of dried beans gives you a full family pot, and soaking lets them cook evenly instead of splitting outside while staying chalky inside.
If your beans are older, give them the full 12 hours. Old beans take longer no matter how politely you ask. - 2
Cook the sofrito
Warm the olive oil in a heavy pot over low heat. Add the onion, green pepper, carrot, leek, and a pinch of the measured salt. Cook slowly for 25 to 30 minutes, stirring now and then, until the vegetables are soft, dark gold, and jammy. This sofrito, the slow vegetable base, is where the sweetness comes from. Rush it and the stew tastes thin.
- 3
Add pimentón
Stir in the garlic and cook for 1 minute, just until it smells good. Pull the pot off the heat and stir in the pimentón, cumin, and ñora flesh if using. Keep the pimentón away from fierce heat; scorch it and it turns bitter, and there is no good way back from that.
- 4
Start cold
Add the drained caricos, bay leaf, chorizo if using, and 1.8 liters cold water. The water should cover the beans by about 3cm. Bring the pot up slowly over medium heat, skimming any foam that rises. Starting cold gives the beans a gentle climb, which keeps their skins whole.
- 5
Simmer very low
Lower the heat until the surface only trembles. Cook uncovered or partly covered for 2 to 2 1/2 hours, until the beans are tender and creamy inside but still holding their shape. If the level drops below the beans, add a small splash of cold water. Do not stir hard with a spoon; move the pot by the handles instead.
- 6
Salt and thicken
When the beans are almost tender, add the remaining salt and cook 15 minutes more. For a thicker broth, take out a ladleful of beans and vegetables, mash them with a fork, and return them to the pot. Slice the chorizo if you used it and put it back. Taste for salt. The broth should be creamy, brick-red, and rounded, not soupy.
- 7
Rest before serving
Take the pot off the heat and let it rest 15 minutes before serving. Beans always settle after the fire goes out; the broth thickens, the oil rises in small red pools, and the flavor becomes itself. Serve in deep bowls with bread. Tal como se hace allí, plain and useful.
Chef Tips
- •Buy true caricos if you can: small, round Cantabrian red beans with thin skins. If you can't, use small red beans, cranberry beans, or borlotti. The substitute will be a little earthier and less creamy, so give it time and keep the simmer low.
- •The chorizo is optional here. Some homes use it, some keep the pot leaner with just vegetables, pimentón, and cumin. If you add it, use Spanish cured chorizo and leave it whole while the beans cook so it perfumes the broth without taking over.
- •Salt near the end, once the beans have softened. Add it too early and some beans tighten before the inside turns creamy. Nadie nace sabiendo, but this one rule saves many pots.
- •These are better after a rest, and better still the next day. Reheat very gently with a splash of water if the broth has set thick in the refrigerator.
Advance Preparation
- •Soak the caricos 10 to 12 hours ahead in plenty of cold water.
- •The stew can be cooked one day ahead, cooled, and refrigerated. Reheat slowly over low heat, loosening with a little water as needed.
- •The sofrito can be cooked up to two days ahead and kept covered in the refrigerator.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 480g)
Calories
560 calories
Total Fat
26 g
Saturated Fat
6 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
19 g
Cholesterol
20 mg
Sodium
1100 mg
Total Carbohydrates
58 g
Dietary Fiber
15 g
Sugars
5 g
Protein
25 g
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