Greek-style stewed beans are very easy to make: the oven will be working for a few minutes, but I assure you this stewed beans recipe topped with feta and honey is very simple to prepare, a complete and flavorful dish.
To make it, you will only need a casserole, so it’s also practical: you won’t dirty the kitchen and you’ll have it ready in no time.
Like many other stews, it tastes even better the next day after the flavors have had time to settle, so you can make it the day before.
Le Creuset Evolution Low Shallow Casserole Cocotte
Ingredients
- 600 g cooked white beans (300 g dry if you cook them at home)
- 2 cans of 400 g crushed tomatoes
- 200 g round green beans
- 4 tbsp olive oil
- 1 large onion
- 1 large carrot
- 2 celery stalks
- 4 cloves garlic, chopped
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 pinch chili flakes
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- 200 ml vegetable stock
- Salt
- Black pepper
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil (to dress at the end)
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 tbsp chopped oregano or thyme or a mix of both
- 1/4 cup chopped parsley, leaves only (no stems)
- 1/4 cup chopped mint, leaves only
For the feta and honey topping
- Juice and zest of 1/2 lemon
- 170 g feta cheese, cut into large pieces*
- A handful of pistachios, pine nuts and walnuts, chopped
- 2 tbsp raw honey
*If you don’t have feta or prefer not to use it, you can substitute mascarpone or goat cheese - they’re milder cheeses that work wonderfully with the beans and tomato flavor of the recipe.
Method
- Cut the onion, carrot and celery stalks very thinly. Trim the green beans and cut them into 3 pieces each.
- In a shallow Le Creuset iron casserole, heat the olive oil and add the onion, celery and carrot. Sauté for 8–10 minutes, covered, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are soft.
- Add the garlic, spices and the oregano or thyme (reserve a little for garnish) and cook a few more minutes, stirring well so they are coated in oil and distribute while cooking.
- Season with 1/2 teaspoon salt and pepper, and add the tomato paste. Sauté, stirring well, for another minute.
- Pour in the tomato and the vegetable stock. Season with salt and pepper. Reserve a few teaspoons of mint and parsley for garnish. Add the remaining parsley, mint, and bay leaves to the casserole and simmer for 20 minutes, uncovered, to reduce and thicken the sauce. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 200 °C.
- Add another good pinch of salt and pepper to the casserole and add the green beans and the cooked, drained white beans, and bring to a boil over high heat.
- Stir well, cover the pan with the lid and place in the hot oven for about 20 minutes, until the sauce has thickened nicely and the green beans are tender.
- Set the grill to high, remove the casserole from the oven and add the juice and zest of half the lemon, and taste to adjust salt if necessary.
For the feta and honey topping
- Scatter the feta cheese over the beans all over the casserole and put it back in the oven, on the top shelf, for 5/8 more minutes, so the feta cheese browns under the grill.
- Sprinkle with the finely chopped nuts, reserved mint and parsley and drizzle with honey to serve.
Le Creuset Evolution Low Shallow Casserole Cocotte
Notes:
- If using dried beans, soak 300 g dried beans overnight in plenty of water. Drain and rinse them, place them in a large Shallow Casserole with plenty of water and bring to a gentle boil, skimming off any foam that rises. Cover and simmer for about 50 minutes until tender, then drain.
- When seasoning the sauce (step 5), you can first add a pinch of sugar to tame the tomato’s acidity before adding salt and pepper.
