Greek-inspired tomato baked beans with spinach
Saucy butter beans with lots of aromatics 🫘
Hi friends,
Whenever I go on a trip - whether abroad or just a long weekend upstate - I come home with new ideas for what to cook. This week’s recipe is another archive update for an idea I brought back from Greece in the summer of 2019.
Specifically, it was my first grown-up Eurotrip with my girlfriends. We stayed in actual hotels (no more hostels!), didn’t bother our parents to please send an extra $100, and remembered to drink something other than alcohol (well, for the most part).
Almost every meal we had in Greece was some permutation of: Greek salad (duh), spanakopita, roasted eggplant spread, lemon potatoes, and tomato baked beans – a.k.a. gigantes plaki.
In Paros, we had this incredible dinner right on the waterfront. As the night was wrapping up, the chef-owner came over to offer some of his home-brewed raki (a liquor made from grape skins).
We took the drink as an opportunity to ask a local about year-round life on the island; it was also my chance to get an authentic recipe for my new beloved beans. The chef, of course, explained it in the most cheffy way possible – “a little of this with a pinch of that, then simmer until they’re done.” Nevertheless, I frantically typed what he said into my phone. Armed with a vague ingredient list and basic technique, I worked on recreating the dish when I returned home.
Gigantes Plaki at a Glance
The traditional dish consists of creamy butter beans braised in tomato sauce with aromatics.
The recipe I got from the Greek chef was designed for restaurants – requiring several hours, beans cooked from scratch, and freshly grated tomatoes. I adapted my version to be more home cook- and weeknight-friendly thanks to canned beans and tomatoes.
Key Ingredients
Canned Butter Beans: Sometimes labeled “large lima beans”. If you can’t find these, cannellini make a great substitute.
Shallot: Feel free to substitute with a bit of finely chopped yellow/red onion.
Oregano: The signature Greek herb.
Smoked Paprika: Adds a savory, smoky flavor to these simple beans.
Sun-Dried Tomatoes: Amplify the tomato flavor. You can use dried or oil-packed ones.
Canned Tomato Sauce: Can be substituted with crushed tomatoes.
Sugar: Balances the acidity of the tomatoes.
Spinach: Not necessarily authentic, but I can’t resist sneaking greens into anything I can! I love how it breaks up the texture of the beans.
As always, the complete recipe, cooking tips, and step-by-step photos are on thenewbaguette.com.
P.S. You can also save it for later with Pinterest.