Bacon, baked beans and cheese jaffles

These jaffles don’t have much (or any) butter on the bread because the bacon, placed on the outside, melts a bit of fat into the bread.

Credit: Feast magazine

• serves

  4

• prep

  25 minutes

• cook

  4:20 hours

• difficulty

  Mid

Ingredients

• butter, to spread (optional)
• 8 white bread slices
• 4 bacon rashers, rind removed, cut to fit length of jaffle iron or maker
• 240 g (2 cups) grated cheddar

Baked beans

• 200 g (1 cup) dried cannellini beans, soaked in water overnight
• 2 onions, peeled, 1 roughly chopped
• 2 unpeeled garlic cloves
• 400 g can chopped tomatoes
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• 4 thyme sprigs
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 tbsp treacle or molasses
• 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Soaking time overnight

Instructions

1. To make baked beans, place drained beans, whole onion, garlic and 2 teaspoons of salt in a large saucepan and cover with water. Bring to the boil, then reduce heat to medium and cook for 1 hour or until almost tender (check after 30 minutes and every 10 minutes after that).

2. Preheat oven to 150ºC. Drain beans, reserving cooking liquid and garlic, and place in a casserole or ovenproof dish with chopped onion, tomatoes, paprika, thyme, bay leaves and treacle. Squeeze garlic from skin and add to bean mixture. Add enough water to just cover and season with pepper and 1 teaspoon of salt. Cover with a lid and bake for 1 hour.

3. Reduce heat to 120ºC and bake for a further 2 hours, adding extra water if mixture is too dry, or until beans are buttery but still hold their shape and sauce is thick. Season. Turn oven to grill and preheat to high. Pour over oil and cook for 5 minutes or until top is golden.

4. Butter bread on one side, if desired. Line bottom of jaffle iron with bacon. Top with bread, buttered-side down, cheese, 2 tablespoons of beans, more bread, buttered-side up, and bacon. Close iron and cook for 2 minutes or until bacon and bread is golden, and cheese is melted.

As seen in Feast magazine, May 2014, Issue 31. 

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.