Spanish bean stew with eggs

Roughly chop the onion, finely chop the green bell pepper and the peeled carrot, and cut the peeled, washed and dried potato into half-inch bite-sized pieces.

Cut two one-inch slices from a baguette and peel four cloves of garlic.

Drain the pinto beans and white beans in a colander and rinse under cold running water.

Heat a stock pot over medium heat with the extra virgin olive oil. After a couple of minutes add the baguette slices and the garlic cloves and fry three to four minutes until golden all around, then transfer them to a mortar and set aside.

In the same pot at the same heat, add the chopped onion, bell pepper and carrot, mix to coat in the oil and stir continuously three to four minutes until lightly sauteed.

Add the pieces of potato and the sweet smoked Spanish paprika and mix quickly to coat the vegetables.

Add the can of tomato sauce, season with sea salt, freshly cracked black pepper and a kiss of white sugar to cut the acid, mix through and simmer about three minutes until slightly thickened.

Add the drained beans, the vegetable broth and the bay leaves.

Turn the heat to high, mix and bring to a boil.

Put the lid on, lower to a low-medium heat and simmer about 20 minutes until the potatoes are fully cooked through.

Add the chopped parsley and a kiss of sea salt to the mortar with the fried baguette and garlic, and pound with the pestle to a paste.

Check a potato with a toothpick; it should go in easily but with some resistance. Stir the garlic and bread paste through the stew.

Crack each egg into its own bowl, then slide the eggs into the stew, evenly spread out.

Put the lid back on and simmer another three to four minutes until the eggs are just cooked through.

Remove from the heat, transfer to a shallow bowl and garnish with fresh parsley.