Greek-style baked beans, covered with feta and honey

Greek-style baked beans are very easy to make: the oven will be working for a few minutes, but I assure you that this recipe for baked beans with feta cheese and honey topping is very simple to prepare, being a most complete and tasty dish.

To prepare it, you will only need a cocotte , so it is also practical: you will not dirty the kitchen at all and you will have it ready in no time.

Like many other stews, it is a dish that tastes even better the next day, after giving the flavors time to settle, so you can do it the day before.

Low casserole pan Evolution Le Creuset

Ingredients

• 600g white beans, cooked (300g dry if you cook them at home)
• 2 cans of 400 g of crushed tomato
• 200 g round green beans
• 4 tablespoons of olive oil
• 1 large onion
• 1 large carrot
• 2 stalks of celery
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 pinch of chili flakes
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 200 ml of vegetable broth
• Salt
• Black pepper
• 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil (to season at the end)
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 tablespoons chopped oregano or thyme or a mixture of both
• 1/4 cup chopped parsley, just the leaves (no stems)
• 1/4 cup minced mint, just the leaves

For the feta and honey topping

• Juice and zest of 1/2 lemon
• 170g feta cheese, cut into large pieces*
• A handful of chopped pistachios, pine nuts and walnuts
• 2 tablespoons of raw honey

*If you don't have feta cheese or if you prefer, instead of feta you can use mascarpone cheese or goat cheese - they are softer cheeses and they go great with the beans and the tomato flavor of the recipe.

Elaboration

1. Finely chop the onion, carrot and celery stalks. From the green beans, remove the tips and cut them into 3 slices.
2. In a Le Creuset low iron cocotte , heat the olive oil and add the onion, celery and carrot. Sauté for 8-10 minutes, with the lid on, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are soft.
3. Add the garlic, the spices and the oregano or thyme (reserve a little to decorate) and cook for a few more minutes, stirring well so that they soak up the oil and distribute everything while it cooks.
4. Season with 1/2 teaspoon of salt and pepper, and add the tomato paste. Sauté, stirring well for another minute.
5. Pour in the tomato and vegetable broth. Season with salt and pepper. Reserve a few teaspoons of mint and parsley to decorate. Add the rest of the parsley, mint and bay leaves to the cocotte and simmer 20 minutes, uncovered, to reduce and thicken the sauce. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 200°C.
6. Add another good pinch of salt and pepper to the cocotte and add the cooked and drained green beans and white beans, and bring to a boil over high heat.
7. Stir well, cover the pan with the lid and place in the hot oven for about 20 minutes, until the sauce has thickened well and the green beans are tender.
8. Set the grill to maximum, take the casserole out of the oven and add the juice and zest of half a lemon, and try to rectify salt if necessary.

For the feta and honey topping

1. Spread the feta cheese on top of the beans all over the cocotte and put it back in the oven, on top, for another 5/8 minutes, so that the feta browns under the grill.
2. Sprinkle with the finely chopped walnuts, reserved mint and parsley and drizzle with honey to serve.

Low casserole pan Evolution Le Creuset

Grades:

• In the event that you use dried beans, soak 300 g of dried beans overnight in plenty of water. Drain and rinse them, put them in a large saucepan with plenty of water and bring to a gentle boil, skimming any foam that rises. Cover and simmer for about 50 minutes until tender, then drain.
• When you season the sauce (point 5), you can add a pinch of sugar first, to kill the acidity of the tomato, before adding the salt and pepper.