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gigantes

January 4th, 2013

So, um, like 2 ½ years ago (yikes! time flies…) I tried to make Gigantes (Giant Greek Beans). The problem was, I couldn’t find the beans themselves, so I had to buy cannellini beans, which, are just definitely not giant. And then my Greek mother-in-law outlined the ingredients over the phone for me, but not in any quantity cause she doesn’t use recipes. Finally is the somewhat important fact that I had never in my life, despite being married to a Greek man, had a Gigante. That kind of stuff always complicates the creation of a recipe., as I’m sure you can imagine!

Eventually I ended up with a recipe that I couldn’t by a long shot bring myself to call Gigantes. While tasty, the best I could muster was “Greek STYLE white beans.”

But in September when Pete and I finally went to Greece and ate non-stop at the local Taverna’s everywhere we went, it was the Gigantes that had me absolutely FREAKING out. I mean, I am sure some of those waiters thought I was off my rocker shoveling in those huge platters of beans by myself.

As much as I enjoyed them, I promised myself I would try to recreate them when I got back to Seattle. But I am parranoid that I waited to long to do it, because now I only have my memory to help me with the proportions, (so please feel free to chime in if you have some family tips or something). However these are so flavorful and delicious and I ate these alongside grilled fish and green salad for days and they were fantastic. The Gigantes should be very soft and tender and swimming in the tomato sauce (plenty of sauce and not too thick!)

And these are incredible just as they are for lunch- one of my favorites lately. Enjoy!

Soak the beans over night in a huge bowl of water for at least 12 hours.

Drain the beans and rinse them. Place them in a pot and cover the beans with water and then bring them to a boil. Reduce the heat to low, put a lid on the pot and cook for about 60 minutes or until the beans are tender. (if the water cooks down too much, just add some more water)

While the beans are cooking to tender, in a large pot, heat the olive oil over medium. Add the onions and sweat until the onions are tender, about 7 minutes.

Add the garlic and carrots and stir while cooking another 5 minutes.

Add the crushed tomatoes and the oregano and simmer about 15 minutes. Season to taste with kosher salt.

Add the beans and gently stir into the sauce. Let the beans simmer on lowest heat for 10 minutes and then remove from the heat and let the beans absorb some more flavor. Check the seasoning again and serve hot or at room temperature.