Soak the beans with 1 tablespoon (14g) of the salt in at least 1.5l of water overnight. If using a pressure cooker, you don’t need to add the salt.

The next day, drain and rinse the beans and add them to a large saucepan with 2 litres of water. Peel one of the onions, cut it in half widthways (through the equator) and add one half to the beans, reserving the other half as a garnish later on. Peel 4 of the garlic cloves and add them to the beans together with the bay leaves and dried chillies. Bring to a boil, skim off any froth, then reduce the heat and simmer with a lid left slightly ajar for 1 hour and 30 minutes or until tender. Alternatively, cook for 8 minutes with 1l of water in a pressure cooker (saves 1 hour and 20 minutes). Set aside the chillies, bay leaves and, separately, the onion and garlic, then drain the beans but keep the cooking liquid.

Meanwhile slice the set aside raw onion half into thick rings, slice the red peppers and set both aside for later.

When the beans have around 10 minutes left, pre-heat the oven to 200 °C (392 °F) (180 °C (356 °F)). Heat the oil over medium-low heat in a frying pan. Peel and finely chop the remaining onion and sauté in the oil until translucent (6-8 minutes). Peel and grate or crush in in the remaining 3 garlic cloves and continue cooking until aromatic. Stir in the tomato paste, then mix in the flour and paprika, followed by 200ml of the bean cooking liquid to turn it into a sauce. Turn off the heat.

Transfer the beans to a 28cm-wide terracotta dish or shallow casserole. Use a fork or knife to mash up the cooked onion and garlic that you set aside earlier and add them to the casserole followed by the sauce, pepper, mint, remaining 1 tablespoon of salt (14g) and another 200ml of the cooking liquid. Give it a stir.

Stir in the red pepper slices, squish in the onion rings and place the chillies and bay leaves inbetween as a garnish. Spoon some of the sauce over the onions to caramelise while roasting, then drizzle everything with a little more oil and bake for 30 minutes until the onions are slightly charred and the beans look gnarly. Remove from the oven and let it rest for 15 minutes, during which it’ll thicken further. Discard the bay leaves and chillies and serve with some crusty bread.