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 coverage is very simple to prepare, being a very 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 so many other stews, it is a dish that tastes even better the next day, after giving the flavors time to settle, so you can make it the day before.

Le Creuset Evolution Low Saucepan Cocotte

Ingredients

• 600g white beans, cooked (300g dry if you cook them at home)
• 2 cans of 400 g of crushed tomato
• 200g round green beans
• 4 tbsp 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 of tomato paste
• 200 ml of vegetable broth
• Salt
• Black pepper
• 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil (to dress at the end)
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 tbsp minced oregano or thyme or a mix of both
• 1/4 cup chopped parsley, just the leaves (without the stems)
• 1/4 cup mint minced, leaves only

For the feta and honey topping

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

*If you don't have feta cheese or if you prefer, instead of feta you can use mascarpone cheese or goat cheese -these 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. To the green beans, remove the ends and cut them into 3 pieces.
2. In a Le Creuset low iron cocotte , heat the olive oil and add the onion, celery and carrot. Cook for 8-10 minutes, with the lid on, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are soft.
3. Add the garlic, spices and oregano or thyme (reserve a little to decorate) and cook for a few more minutes, stirring well so that they are impregnated with oil and distribute everything while cooking.
4. Season with 1/2 teaspoon salt and pepper, and add the tomato paste. Saute, 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 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 them 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. Put the grill to the maximum, take the pan out of the oven and add the juice and the zest of half a lemon, and taste to rectify the salt if necessary.

For the feta and honey topping

1. Spread the feta cheese over 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 finely chopped walnuts, reserved mint and parsley and drizzle with honey to serve.

Le Creuset Evolution Low Saucepan Cocotte

Grades:

• If 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 them to a gentle boil, skimming off any foam that rises. Cover and simmer for about 50 minutes until tender, then drain.
• When you season the sauce (point 5), you can first add a pinch of sugar, to kill the acidity of the tomato, before adding the salt and pepper.