Traditionally, gigantes plaki is made from soaked, dried butter/lima beans and baked in the oven. My quick version relies on tinned beans and is cooked on the hob, but you could make a big batch using dried beans and cook in the slow cooker (boil the beans for 10 minutes before slow cooking). This dish can be serve warm a part of a meze or hot as a main dish with rice or bread.
My version costs around £1 to make, using budget-brand beans and tinned tomatoes.
Serves 2-4
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 small onion, finely diced
- 2 large cloves of garlic, chopped or crushed
- 1 carrot, finely diced
- 1 tin chopped tomatoes or around 400g/1 lb chopped fresh tomatoes.
- 1 tin butter/lima beans, drained and rinsed
- 2 tsp chopped fresh parsley
- 2 tsp chopped fresh dill
- ½ tsp sugar, optional
- ½ tsp paprika
- a pinch of cinnamon or a small cinnamon stick, optional
Heat the oil in a pan and saute the onion, carrot and garlic for a few minutes.
Add all of the remaining ingredients, apart from the beans, and stir well.
Cover and simmer on a low heat for 10 minutes.
Add the beans, stir and simmer (with the lid on) for a further 10-20 minutes, until the carrots are tender.
Lower fat alternative: Just use 1 tsp of oil.
Camping version: Simmer a jar of tomato pasta sauce with a drained tin of butter beans. Serve with warm pittas.
I'm linking this recipe to 'The Vegetable Palette' over at A2K - A Seasonal Veg Table. This month's colour theme is red.
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