Fasolia Plaki

Every Greek will have grown up with this easy, humble and delicious dish of beans. Best eaten with a hunk of fresh bread.

Did I say hunk? Better make that a loaf.

FASOLIA PLAKI

SERVES: 3 - 4

PREP TIME: 15 - 20

COOKING TIME: 30 - 40 minutes

INGREDIENTS:

3 x 400g tins white kidney beans (aka cannellini)

300g ripe fresh sweet tomatoes

3 sticks celery - chopped

1 large brown onion - chopped

4 cloves garlic - finely sliced.

2 or 3 teaspoons tomato pure

A large handful of roughly chopped parsley

Salt and pepper

Olive oil

METHOD:

Skin tomatoes. The easiest way to do this is to put them in a bowl and pour boiling water over them. Let them soak for a few minutes and the skins should slide off.

Gently fry the onion, celery and garlic in two tablespoons of olive oil till softened but not brown.

Roughly chop the tomatoes and put those in, along with a teaspoon of tomato puree.

Give it all a good stir then put in the beans - with their water.

Add pepper and salt if needed. The bean water may be salty enough.

Put lid on and let it cook for a while before throwing in the parsley. Or, if your celery has nice leaves on it, use these instead of the parsley.

Stir frequently to avoid the bottom of the pan from catching.

This dish should be quite wet so add a little water if it’s drying out.

Cook on the hob at a low heat for about 30 minutes or until beans are softened and cooked through.

Serve with a drizzle of your best olive oil.

RECIPESAPRIL 30, 2019