Friday 20 May 2016

Γίγαντες Πλακί (Giant Baked Beans)

I found this recipe during some aimless Internet wandering. It looks to be a slow cooker adaptation of γίγαντες πλακί (gigantes plaki) or giant baked beans. Apparently dried runner beans (γίγαντες) are traditionally used for this. I couldn't find any, so I tossed in some great northern beans instead. And wow! Did they ever come out nice! This one is definitely a keeper. This was both easier and more delicious than any other baked bean recipe I've ever tried. Seriously good.

Γίγαντες Πλακί
~450g great northern beans (or gigantes if you can find 'em)
2 bay leaves
~1 tsp. red pepper flakes
6-8 cloves of garlic, peeled and smashed
4 onions, chopped
1 (28 oz.) can San Marzano tomatoes, smashed/broken up
a few sprigs of thyme (or maybe 1 tsp. of dried)
~1 tsp. dried oregano (optional)
~150g cubed pancetta
1 good-sized hunk of Parmesan rind
8 c. chicken stock
2 Tbsp. olive oil
pepper, to taste
crusty bread, to serve

Apparently with the traditional method, you cook the pancetta and vegetables first and build a fond and all that good stuff. I think the beans are meant to be soaked overnight as well. However, this slow cooker version just has you throw everything in the pot at once and cook it on high for six hours. My slow cooker is currently out of commission, but letting it simmer on the stovetop all afternoon certainly seems to have done the trick. I did have to add a bit more water partway through cooking, but that was no trouble. And other than that brief intervention, it was completely hassle-free!

And did I mention that this is probably the most delicious bean dish I've ever tried? Ever. Seriously. This made a huge pot of beans. We've been eating them for a week. And I'm okay with this! I'm not tired of them yet and I will certainly be making more in the future!

1 comment:

  1. Ha! I recently discovered that "gigantes" are more commonly known as "butter beans" in North America. I've seen tinned butter beans in the stores here, but never dried. However, a little more poking around revealed that "butter bean" is actually another name for very large lima beans. (And what I'm used to being called "lima beans" are sometimes actually referred to as "baby lima beans" to differentiate them from the much larger, starchier mature lima beans.) And eventually I was able to find a bag of dried "jumbo lima beans" at the grocery store. So now, after... two and a half years, I'm finally going to get to try γιγαντες πλακι with the beans it's actually supposed to have!

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