Gigantes Plaki - Tender Greek Roasted Beans in Tomato Sauce
User Reviews
5
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Prep Time
15 mins
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Cook Time
1 hr 30 mins
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Total Time
1 hr 45 mins
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Servings
4
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Course
Main Course
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Cuisine
Mediterranean, Greek, Vegan
Gigantes Plaki - Tender Greek Roasted Beans in Tomato Sauce
Description
Gigantes Plaki - Tender Greek Roasted Beans in Tomato Sauce uses butter beans, soaked overnight and boiled until soft but intact. The sauce is prepared by gently cooking onions and garlic, then adding tomato paste, fresh or canned tomatoes, parsley, salt, and pepper, simmered until thickened. The beans are combined with the sauce and baked with olive oil to develop a tender, richly flavored dish that blends the creaminess of the beans with the tanginess of tomato and herbs.
The resulting texture is creamy from the beans, with a slightly thickened tomato sauce coating. Baking enhances the melded flavors and creates a luscious finish with the olive oil drizzle. This traditional Greek dish can be served warm as a satisfying vegetarian entree or as a side to grilled meats.
Ensuring the beans are thoroughly boiled before baking is important to avoid hardness. The recipe suggests slow simmering the sauce and baking for about 40 minutes to deepen its flavor and texture.
Ingredients
- 1 pound gigantes beans or butter beans; soak them in water overnight
- 2 tomato grated or diced or canned crushed tomatoes
- 4 garlic peeled cloves
- 2 onion thinly sliced
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste mixed with a bit of water
- 3/4 cup olive oil
- parsley
- salt to taste
- black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Soak the beans overnight, the longer, the better.
- Preheat oven at 350 Fahrenheit (180 degrees Celsius).
- Drain and rinse the beans and boil in water for about 40 minutes to an hour, until they are soft but not mushy. Make sure you boil them enough; otherwise the beans will be too hard to eat even after baking.
- In the meantime prepare the sauce. Sauté the onion in a bit of olive on low heat until soft and add the garlic cloves whole. If you want a stronger garlic flavor you can mince the garlic.
- Add the tomato (this time I used cherry tomatoes that I cut in thin slices, but the traditional way is grating the tomato), the tomato paste, parsley, salt and pepper to taste and about ¼ cup olive oil. Let it simmer until sauce thickens, about 10 minutes.
- Once the beans have boiled, drain them and put them back into the pot, add the sauce and mix gently. Pour the mixture in a pan and spread evenly and then pour about another ¼ cup olive oil over the beans and bake for about 40 minutes until beans are tender.
- Accompany with feta cheese and bread.
User Reviews
Overall Rating
5
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