Baked giant beans with tomato, the absolute national Greek recipe

Baked giant beans with tomato (“gigantes plaki” or “gigantes sto fournou”) are considered one of the most important dishes in all of Greek gastronomy. Because of their large size, these legumes offer a pleasant creamy texture in every bite. They are also an important source of protein and fiber, which is why it is worth adding them to our nutritional plan.

What are giant beans?

Generally known as just “giants”, these white beans are legumes that can be as large as a 1 Euro coin. Its size and starch content make its texture creamy but without falling apart in every bite. In other countries they are known as “crown beans” or “butter beans”. There are discussions about whether these legumes are exactly the so-called “lima beans”, in any case, both are at least directly related and are equivalent for this recipe.

Baked giant beans with tomato (“gigantes plaki” or “gigantes sto fournou”) are a traditional mezze, which can be served both hot and cold. It is generally accompanied with Feta cheese. The literal translation means “baked giants”, since its preparation consists of two steps: first the beans are boiled until they are tender, while at the same time the tomato sauce is prepared. Then both are transferred to an oven tray and everything is baked together until the flavors are integrated.

Baked giant beans with tomato: the recipe

First step: prepare the beans

Before starting the preparation, leave the beans soaking in water the previous night. Make sure that the amount of water is 3 times greater in relation to the amount of legumes, since these will increase significantly in volume.

After 8 to 12 hours, we can begin cooking the beans.

Discard the water in which they have been soaking, rinse and transfer the beans to a pot. Cover with water, bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and cook until the beans are tender but not too soft. Depending on the quality and how fresh the product was, this can take from 45 minutes to about an hour and a half.

Meanwhile, prepare the tomato sauce:

Heat a little extra virgin olive oil in a saucepan. Chop and sauté the vegetables (usually onion, carrot and celery, although it can be varied depending on availability). Add the crushed garlic, and after a few minutes, the tomato paste. Sauté briefly, add the crushed tomato, salt to taste and cook over low heat for about 10 minutes. Reserve and preheat the oven to 180 degrees, in order to be ready for the second part of the recipe.

The second step: baking

Following tradition, we will need a deep enough baking dish or tray, although we could use a cocotte or “Dutch oven”.

Strain the beans, but retaining a cup of the cooking liquid. Transfer the beans along with the tomato sauce to the baking tray (or cocotte). Add the rosemary, cinnamon stick, bay leaves, cloves and the cup of cooking liquid. Season to taste. Mix and integrate the ingredients. Cover the dish with aluminum foil (or cover with the lid if using a cocotte).

Bake for approximately one hour at 180°, then uncover and finish cooking for further 15 minutes at 200°.

When serving, adjust to taste the salt and pepper, decorate with chopped parsley on top and serve with Feta cheese on the side, seasoned with oregano and extra virgin olive oil.

Tips and tricks:

1. As with all legumes, it is important not to salt the beans when boiling them. This is because salt hardens the legumes, which wouldn’t become tender, no matter how long the boiling continued.
2. Depending on preference, it is also possible to add pieces of Feta cheese when uncovering the beans, to finish baking everything together in those final 15 minutes.