Prebranac, Balkan Baked Beans with Onions
Prebranac is the Balkan answer to baked beans, a Lenten and everyday dish built on white beans and an almost absurd quantity of onions, seasoned with little more than paprika and bay. It belongs to no single country, turning up across Serbia, Bosnia, and North Macedonia, which is why it sits under the pan-European label. The traditional pot is generous with oil, but the flavor really comes from cooking the onions down to a sweet jam and then letting the oven caramelize the top, both of which happen here without any. Add the paprika off the heat so it blooms rather than burns, and use the large white beans if you can find them, though cannellini stand in well. It reheats better than it bakes, so it is worth making a day ahead.
Ingredients
- 3 cups Cannellini beans, cooked
- 4 wholes Yellow onions, sliced thin
- 3 cloves Garlic, minced
- 1 tbsp Sweet paprika
- 2 wholes Bay leaves
- 1/2 tsp Black peppercorns, freshly ground
- 1 tbsp Red wine vinegar
- 2 tbsp Flat-leaf parsley, chopped
Method
- Sweat the sliced onions in 0.33 cup (80 ml) water in a wide covered pan over medium heat, stirring now and then, until they collapse to a soft, deep golden tangle, about 25 minutes. The onions are not a background note here; they are half the dish, so cook them all the way down and add a splash of water whenever the pan runs dry.
- Pull the pan off the heat and stir in the garlic and paprika. Paprika scorches and turns bitter over direct heat, so it always goes in off the flame, where the residual warmth blooms it instead.
- Layer the cooked beans and the onions in a baking dish, starting and ending with onions, tucking in the bay leaves and seasoning with black pepper as you go. Spoon in about half a cup of bean cooking liquid or water so the beans stay moist while the top caramelizes.
- Bake at 400 F (200 C) until the surface is browned and the edges catch and caramelize, about 40 minutes. The dry oven heat does what a slick of oil does in the classic version, crisping the top onions and concentrating everything beneath.
- Finish with the red wine vinegar and parsley. A little acid cuts the richness of all those sweet onions and, with the beans, makes the dish taste full without salt.
Nutrition
Estimated per serving: 205 calories, 11 g protein, 9 g fiber, 30 mg sodium. Computed from USDA FoodData Central reference values for the main ingredients. This is an approximation, not a laboratory measurement. How these are computed.
Cost per serving is estimated from US national-average retail prices for cheap staple forms, using BLS dried-bean prices and USDA produce prices. Prices vary by store and season, so treat it as a guide, not a receipt. How this is computed.
