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