Boston Baked Beans & Bacon on Toast

This recipe is comforting, hearty, deep flavoured and purse friendly, not to mention versatile... good for brekkie or(/and) dinner. Boston baked beans are traditionally slow cooked, but if you use tinned beans, as I do here, cooking time can be significantly slashed.
What makes Boston baked beans specifically Bostonian? The molasses of course! Boston has long been linked to sugar refining (Molasses is a by product). The city was the trade centre for rum (made from molasses) from the Caribbean in Colonial times and it's said that the sweet scent of this dark gloop still hangs in the air there.  

Ingredients

1 tablespoon of Olive oil
1 red Onion, sliced
1 clove of Garlic, crushed
1 heaped teaspoon of Paprika
2 teaspoons of Mustard seeds
1 teaspoon of Molasses sugar (brown sugar is fine if you don't have molasses)
1 red bell Pepper, chopped into chunks
1 (300g) tin of chopped Tomatoes
1 teaspoon of Tomato paste
1 (300g) tin of Haricot beans
1 tablespoon of Balsamic vinegar
Salt and black pepper


Method
Heat the olive oil in a large pan over a medium high heat. Add the red onion and a little salt and fry for 4-5 minutes until the is becoming onion soft and translucent. 
Add in the garlic, paprika, mustard, sugar, tomato paste and red pepper. Fry for a further 2-3 minutes. 
Add in the tomatoes, beans & vinegar. Bring to a simmer, turn the heat right down, and allow to cook for 10 minutes, stirring regularly, until the liquid has reduced, shiny and thick. 
Season to taste and heap over thick toast. Serve, topped with crispy grilled streaky bacon. 

Serves 2 -3. Prep time 5 mins. Cooking time 20 mins.