Best Baked Gigantes Beans Recipes

GIGANTES (GREEK GIANT BAKED BEANS)

Steps:

• Cook the pre-soaked beans in a pressure cooker, with enough water to cover by one inch, for 20 minutes and allow to sit, undisturbed, for 2-3 hours before proceeding with recipe.
• Tip the beans into a large baking pan.
• Add all of the remaining ingredients, except the dill, and stir well to distribute.
• Pour over enough hot water to cover beans by 1".
• Place pan in oven and set oven to 400°F.
• Bake for 2 hours. Check, if you like your beans more tender, cook them a half hour longer.
• Stir dill in for last 15 minutes of baking.
• There will still be plenty of juices in the pan, but these will be absorbed by the beans and thicken as the beans cool.
• Like nearly all bean recipes, these only improve the next day, and the day after next.
• In Greece, these beans would constitute the main, 'vegetarian' meal and would not include the bacon, which is my own addition. We often eat meatless, especially when we're fasting. With or without the bacon or sausage, this is good eating, especially with a big chunk of sharp feta cheese on the side to nibble on between bites of beans and slurps of sauce and some good, honest, crusty bread to clean your plate up with. :-).

BAKED GIGANTES BEANS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.
• In a small oven safe dish or casserole, combine beans with tomato sauce, parsley, and oregano, crushing the oregano in your palm before you sprinkle it into the beans. Drizzle beans with a touch of extra-virgin oil and season with salt and pepper, to taste. Combine ingredients with a final toss.
• Place in oven and bake 12 minutes or until sauce is bubbling and beans are heated through.

FASSOLIA GIGANTES PLAKI (GIANT BEANS BAKED IN THE OVEN)

Steps:

• Pick the beans clean from stones and grit and soak them in cold water overnight.
• Drain and rinse them in a colander, put into a large saucepan or a pressure cooker, cover with plenty of cold water and boil them until they are cooked but still a little hard.
• This type of bean cooks quickly, so be aware until you get used to them.
• They take hardly 2 minutes in a pressure cooker and about 30-40 minutes otherwise.
• If they get overcooked, they get mushy and soggy and they do not taste at their best.
• This first step then is also the most important in this recipe.
• Drain the beans through a colander and keep aside.
• In the same saucepan, heat the olive oil and fry the onions, the garlic and the dried herbs, until they start turning pale golden.
• Add the tomatoes with all the juice from the cans or, if fresh tomatoes are used, add 150 ml water.
• Then add the tomato puree and sugar, break up the mixture with a fork, season with salt and pepper, cover and cook for 30 minutes or until the sauce thickens.
• Mix the parsley into the tomato sauce, add the beans and mix well.
• Spread the beans in an oven dish.
• Sprinkle a little oregano and black pepper on the top and cook in a pre-heated oven at 350 grades F/ 80 grades C, for 30 minutes, without stirring, until they look slightly crisp on top and quite dry.
• Alternatively, add the beans to the tomato sauce, mix well, cover and simmer for 10-15 minutes.

GIGANTES PLAKI (GREEK BAKED BEANS)

Steps:

• 1. Soak the dried gigantes beans in water with the bay leaves over night. Bring the water to a boil and simmer until the beans are tender, about 30-40 minutes.
• 2. Heat the oil in a pan. Add the onions, carrot and celery and cook until tender, about 10-15 minutes. Add the garlic and chili pepper flakes and cook until fragrant, about a minute.
• 3. Add the tomatoes, paprika and oregano and simmer until the sauce thickens, about 20 minutes. Season the tomato sauce with salt and pepper to taste. Mix the parsley, dill, beans and 1/2 cup of the liquid that the beans were cooked in into the tomato sauce.
• 4. Pour the mixture into a casserole dish. Bake in a preheated 350-degree oven until the top is browned and most of the liquid has evaporated, about 50-60 minutes.

GIGANTES PLAKI: GREEK BAKED BEANS

Steps:

• heat up the quarter cup of olive oil over medium heat. Add the onions and garlic and sweat them out until the onion is semi-translucent, and then follow with the carrots and celery. Continue cooking until the carrots are tender and soft. While that cooks, chop the tomatoes . When the carrots are soft add the tomatoes, tomato paste, red wine vinegar and hot red pepper flakes. Put a lid on the pan and let it simmer, lifting the lid to stir it every once in a while, for about 30 minutes or until the tomatoes have broken down into a chunky red gravy. pre-heat your oven to 350ºF. Discard the parsley and dill stems and finely chop the herbs. Add the parsley and dill to the stewing tomatoes et al, and season the mixture with salt and pepper to taste. Discard the bay leaves after the beans are cooked, and drain the beans but reserve 1/2 cup of the cooking liquid. Pour the tomato stew over the beans and add the 1/2 cup of cooking liquid. The mixture should be somewhat thin and saucy, Use the remaining tablespoon of olive oil to lightly grease the inside of a casserole dish. Pour the beans into the baking dish and smooth them out with the back of your spoon. Cover the pan with tin foil and tuck it into the center of your oven for 30 minutes. Turn the heat up to 425ºF, uncover the dish and let the beans continue to cook for another 10 - 15 minutes, or until the center of the top is starting to look a little bit dry and the liquid has thickened up a bit. You can garnish the beans with just a touch more chopped parsley or dill if you like, and they're ready to be eaten with some nice crusty bread to sop up all those juices. toast some crostini and pile the beans on top to eat as a meze Traditionally Gigantes Plaki is served only slightly warm or at room temperature

FASSOLIA GIGANTES PLAKI (GIANT BEANS BAKED IN THE OVEN)

Steps:

• 1 Pick the beans clean from stones and grit and soak them in cold water overnight. 2 Drain and rinse them in a colander, put into a large saucepan or a pressure cooker, cover with plenty of cold water and boil them until they are cooked but still a little hard. 3 This type of bean cooks quickly, so be aware until you get used to them. 4 They take hardly 2 minutes in a pressure cooker and about 30-40 minutes otherwise. 5 If they get overcooked, they get mushy and soggy and they do not taste at their best. 6 This first step then is also the most important in this recipe. 7 Drain the beans through a colander and keep aside. 8 In the same saucepan, heat the olive oil and fry the onions, the garlic and the dried herbs, until they start turning pale golden. 9 Add the tomatoes with all the juice from the cans or, if fresh tomatoes are used, add 150 ml water. 10 Then add the tomato puree and sugar, break up the mixture with a fork, season with salt and pepper, cover and cook for 30 minutes or until the sauce thickens. 11 Mix the parsley into the tomato sauce, add the beans and mix well. 12 Spread the beans in an oven dish. 13 Sprinkle a little oregano and black pepper on the top and cook in a pre-heated oven at 350 grades F/ 80 grades C, for 30 minutes, without stirring, until they look slightly crisp on top and quite dry. 14 Alternatively, add the beans to the tomato sauce, mix well, cover and simmer for 10-15 minutes.