Variants and Tips

If you want to replace canned beans with dried beans, soak the dried cranberry beans for 12 hours, rinse them, put them in a pot, cover with cold water, bring to a boil, and cook for about 90 minutes, then proceed with the recipe as described.

You can replace pork cheek with speck or pancetta or melt 3-4 oz of coarsely chopped lard in a pan with garlic.

You can substitute cranberry beans with cannellini beans or other types of beans.

If you liked this recipe, you might also be interested in Pasta and Beans or Sage Bean Soup or Tuscan Beans.