montefin's Crock Pot Recipe
Meatballs Cachupa Cape Verde

Cachupa, pronounced kah-CHEW-pah, is a slow cooked stew of beans, hominy and mainly meat or fish - as well as whatever else is available such as greens, yams, potatoes, or squash.

I like it simple, with beef meatballs, as in the recipe below. But, no matter what you add, the long, slow cooking of the main ingredients of beans and hominy produces a hearty gravy texture with deep down satisfying flavor that is unique in my experience.

Cachupa, is the national dish of Cape Verde, formerly a Portuguese colony, but now an independent seven island republic located off the west coast of Africa.

• 1 lb. dry Pinto Beans
• 1 - 29 oz. can White Hominy
• 1 cup Beef Broth
• 3 thick slices Bacon, cut into 1" pieces
• Red Peppers (hot or not)
• Hot Green Peppers (hot or not)
• Onions
• 1 Bay Leaf
• 1/2 Tsp minced Garlic
• Ground Beef, rolled into 1 1/2" meatballs.

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Pick through beans. Discard discolored and shrivelled ones. Soak overnight in 6 cups water. Drain and wash.

Put Beans in slow cooker and add 6 cups fresh water, Beef Broth, Bacon Fat, Red and Green Peppers, Onions, Garlic, Bay Leaf and Hominy, and slow cook for 5 hours.

Add Meatballs for last 20 minutes.

For a hearty breakfast, fry leftover cachupa until the edges get just crispy, top with poached or fried eggs, garnish with cilantro and chopped onion, and serve.

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