Yigandes Plaki - Greek Baked Beans & Tomato Casserole

"This is a traditional vegetarian Greek dish. The main ingedients are of course, the huge beans & tomato.....try to find original yigandes (gigantes, gigandes) beans at a Greek or ethnic market for this dish, otherwise use the biggest lima beans you can find. Recipe by: Nancy Gaifyllia.She says "Restaurants serve this as a meze (in small portions), but because of the quantity in which it's fixed, unless you're planning a selection of mezether for a large gathering, it works better as a main dish" Time to make doesn't include soaking time. Posted for ZWT 4"
 
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photo by Mulligan photo by Mulligan
photo by Mulligan
Ready In:
3hrs 20mins
Ingredients:
10
Serves:
4
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ingredients

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directions

  • Add the beans to a pot with enough cold water to cover well. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and cook at a slow boil for 1 hour. Drain and set aside.
  • Preheat the oven to 325F (160C).
  • Using a wooden spoon, sauté the onion and garlic in the olive oil until soft.
  • Add tomatoes (if using canned, add all liquid as well), bouillon cubes, salt, pepper, parsley, and water, and allow to boil gently for 10-30 minutes, until it begins to thicken.
  • Place the beans in an oven-proof pan, add tomato mixture, stir and spread mixture out evenly.
  • Bake 1 1/2 to 2 hours, or until beans are soft. (Check the dish during cooking and if needed, add a small amount of boiling water.) The dish will look crispy on top.
  • Remove from the oven, cover, and allow to cool. Serve warm or at room temperature.
  • When using after refrigerating, allow it to come to room temperature, or heat briefly in the microwave. This dish is not served hot.

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Reviews

  1. Delicious! I used canned butter beans and tomatoes, halved the oi,l and added 1 tsp. of honey and 1/2 tsp. of chili flakes. I also omitted the water, since the tomatoes seemed liquidy enough.
     
  2. This was a wonderful, rich, recipe for a delicious comfort food. We used lima beans, which my husband usually refuses to eat, and it was delicious. Froze the leftovers and they came out just as good as the first round!
     
  3. Having eaten this dish all over the place I made a few modifications. I added a couple of finely chopped carrots, a couple sticks of finely chopped celery, a couple of good handfuls of chopped dill, some bay leaves and a couple or three anchovies finely chopped (or use Thai Fish Sauce). I added a big pinch of cayenne and white pepper and a blob of Wasabi. I also use Italian parsley but only because I have loads of it in my herb 'farm.' The anchovies melt away and give the beans some depth of flavour. Fish sauce does the same thing. Both are sort of like MSG without the weirdness. My friends gave my recipe five stars and this one as is 4 stars, hence the rating.
     
  4. This is a really great recipe. I have tried it with vegetable broth and chicken broth, and I think I like the chicken broth a little bit better. I also top it with sprinkles of chopped feta cheese.
     
  5. This was wonderfully simple! I had to use frozen baby limas, but it tasted really good! I'm planning to break these out into smaller portions and freeze. I'm hoping this will be a quick side dish to reheat. Made for ZWT4 - Chic Chefs. Thanks for the recipe!
     
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Tweaks

  1. As in my review
     

RECIPE SUBMITTED BY

ABOVE: My eldest, Talha with his 'Zaar Star! I'm 29 years old and have been cooking since I was old enough to wield a wooden spoon! My Mum is a fantastic cook and both my Grandmas were great cooks too. I've also had the pleasure of working in two commercial kitchens - one which I ran and the other I was second chef of. You can find me lurking in the NA*ME (North Africa / Middle East) Forum where I am a host: http://www.recipezaar.com/bb/viewforum.zsp?f=59 and also in the Cooking for Kids Forum where I am co-host: http://www.recipezaar.com/bb/viewforum.zsp?f=34 <style>body { background: url(http://i714.photobucket.com/albums/ww141/Um_Safia/seamless%20tiles/seamlesstile1.jpg);background-repeat: repeat; }</style> I am fortunate enough to have 2 children of my own now and enjoy cooking with my eldest who is almost 8 years old. My daughter is almost 3 & has now started joining me in the kitchen & 'helping'. She likes to stand on a chair next to me, give instructions & stir. We eat food from all over the world but my husband prefers it like 'mama used to make' or in his case ''like yemma makes it'' as he is Algerian! We are currently living in the UK after living in Algeria for a while. You will notice that I have posted quite a few Algerian classics. If I had the time and the money, I would spend all day every day trying new recipes! My husband has a 'recipe score' which is this: 1: "Add it to your recipe book - I loved it and wanna eat this again soon!" 2: "Interesting....I will enjoy eating this again." 3: "I cleared my plate but don't expect me to eat this again...ever." However, I rate 'Zaar recipes the by the 'Zaar standard, so don't worry. Oh and fyi, I have a problem being negative so will probably NEVER give a rating less that 4*!!! Other than cooking, I love anything arty-crafty and enjoy painting when I get the chance, which is rarely these days. I used to sell a lot of my creations and do things to order but just don't have the time at the moment. I have a passion for gardening almost as strong as that for cooking. I tend to have 90% of it in pots though as I can't bear to leave it behind when we move - therefore we don't have a lot of stuff that we'd like to have as it wouldn't like being confined to a pot! I take great pride in my garden and love the summer months (the few that we get in the UK) when we can eat outside... and being a typical man, my husband likes any excuse to get the BBQ going - enough said! By the way; I'm on a mission to re-educate people about soaking cous cous for use in North African recipes.,,just so you all know....it is traditionally STEAMED & not soaked! Most of the North African recipes I have have been taught to me by my mother in law, sisters in law etc. A few have come from very old cookbooks. It has taken me a long time to get the dishes into some kind of recipe form as basically we "eyeball" the majority of the ingredients. Bear with me whilst I try to get the rest of the recipes in order!... On a personal note, I abhor the mistreatment of animals and have taken care of many abandoned or injured animals over the years. Similarily, I love to help children and that is why my husband and I are in the process of becoming foster carers. I have a thing about being polite and having good manners - they don't cost anything after all. Something that bugs me is when you hold a door open for someone and they don't even acknowledge you or if you need to go through a door and they won't hold it for you but let it slap you in the face! 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