Hi, Does the 40 minute cooking time refer to both canned and dried beans? Is the goal to break down the beanans?

Hi! The recipe calls for cooked beans, so dry beans will need to be cooked fully before starting the porridge. The beans will break down a bit during that 40 minute cook time, and more so if you use spoon or spatula to break up the beans as directed in step 1.

It refers to already cooked beans (either fresh or canned). In the head note, the author says that she likes mushy food.