Gigantes plaki
Gigantes plaki or Greek giant baked beans, is a Greek dish of large white beans baked in a tomato sauce. Gigantes plaki may be served as a main dish or as a meze. The beans are traditionally fasolia gigantes 'giant beans', a variety of Phaseolus coccineus.
The cooking method plaki is where food is baked or roasted on a roasting tin in the oven with extra virgin olive oil, tomatoes, vegetables, and herbs, with the well-known gigantes beans plaki and fish plaki.
Cooking methods
The dish is made with dried giant runner beans, tomatoes, onions, olive oil, parsley, and carrots. Large lima beans are sometimes substituted. Other vegetables such as garlic and celery are sometimes used. The dish is vegan and thus suitable for Orthodox Christian fast days, though sometimes sausages or cubed smoked pork are added.The beans are soaked and boiled until tender. The aromatics are sautéed to make a sofrito and mixed with the beans. Then the beans are baked until the top layer of the dish is browned. The dish may be served at room temperature or warm.