This vegetarian dish comes from a blogger who resides in a city near and dear to my heart, Thessaloniki. Thessaloniki is the capital of Greece’s northernmost province Macedonia and the dish get’s it’s name from the geographical location of the dish.
Soula writes the blog “Gasteroplix” and although she writes exclusively in Greek, food is international and with the help of Greeks like me who reach into blogs written in other languages besides English, dishes like these are brought forward to a broader audience.
The name of the dish “Makedonikos” is also a throw to the reputation of northern Greeks’ (Macedonians) love of peppers and spicy and hot foods. The dish’s main ingredient is butter or elephant beans…affectionately known as “gigantes”.
Gigantes can be found all over Greece but the the best beans are supposed to be from the northwestern region of Kastoria (Prespes area in particular). Giant butter beans can be readily found in markets in the West but if you can’t find them at your supermarket, your nearest Greek grocer will surely be stocked with butter beans.
This past summer I also visited Kastoria and I brought back some gigantes beans. When I saw Soula post this dish, I new that I would immediately love it and surely my family would too!
This is one-pan dish and it’s a hearty one. Healthy, filling and full of flavour, this dish will surely get added to your roster of vegetarian dishes. A glass of wine, some crusty bread and perhaps a winter salad are all that’s needed to round-out the balanced meal.
Some of you might not like hot peppers (what’s wrong with you?) but that’s why I left the whole hot banana peppers in tact. The baked dish is saved from the heat of the peppers and those hot pepper freaks (like myself) are also accommodated.
Fassoulotavas Makedonikos (Φασουλοταβάς Μακεδονικός)
(serves 4)
2 cups of butter (gigantes or elephant) beans
1/2 cup olive oil
the white parts of 2 leeks, washed, rinsed and cut into slices
2 carrots, chopped
3 cloves of garlic, minced
3 bay leaves
1 red (sweet) shepherd’s pepper, sliced into rings
1 heaping Tbsp. of tomato paste
2 ripe tomatoes passed through a box grater (or 1/2 cup tomato puree)
3-4 whole hot banana peppers
1 tsp. smoked paprika
sea salt and fresh ground pepper
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
squirt of ketchup (optional)
water
Pre-heated 375F oven
- Rinse your beans and add them to a pot with just enough water to cover them along with a teaspoon of salt. Allow to soak for two hours and then rinse very well.
- Add the beans back in your pot along with enough water to cover by about 1-inch. Bring to a boil and then simmer for an hour to ninety minutes (or until soft/fork tender). Remove from the heat, remove the beans with a slotted spoon and place in your baking vessel. DO NOT throw out the water that was used to boil the beans (will be used later).
- Pre-heat your oven to 375F. In large skillet over medium heat, add your olive oil, leeks, carrots and garlic and simmer for about 5-7 minutes or until the leeks are softened and translucent. Add the smoked paprika, the tomato paste, tomato puree and red pepper slices and simmer for a couple of more minutes.
- Remove from the heat and empty the contents of the skillet over the beans in your baking vessel. Stir the contents with a wooden spoon until well incorporated. Add about 5 ladles of the reserved boiling liquid (or enough to just cover the bean mixture)and the chopped fresh parsley. Season with salt and pepper and taste the sauce. If you like, you may add a squirt of ketchup for a little sweetness.
- Place the whole hot banana peppers on top, drizzle with olive oil and place in your pre-heated oven for 45 minutes or until most of the liquid has been absorbed. Remove from the oven and serve with crusty bread and a Ktima Stergiou Red (Cab. Sauv., Merlot & Xinomavro).
If you are not reading this post in a feed reader or at https://kalofagas.ca then the site you are reading is illegally publishing copyrighted material. Contact me at truenorth67 AT gmail DOT COM. All recipes, text and photographs in this post are the original creations & property of the author.
© 2007-2009 Peter Minakis
I can find those butter beans in glass jars in a specialty shop near me. This looks like a great meatless meal.
I am hungry now. I love those big butter beans. Great dish Peter!
I LOVE gigantes! Looks delicious with the banana peppers. Gotta spice it up in the winter.
Another mouth-watering and a must-to-do dish!!! Thanks for sharing!
Looks so yummy! The combination of chillies and beans sounds delicious.
I am a chilli freak too, I like to fry slit small green chillies with seeds shaken off and enjoy them along with my meals on the side. I suggest you try ‘Mirchi Ka Salan’ from my blog, I am sure you will enjoy the curry.
fantastic – the addition of these whole peppers makes this dish look more luxuriant
This dish is so appetizing! What a lovely combo!
Cheers,
Rosa
Ksereis poso kairo lew na to ftiaksw??
Apo tin Gasteroplix to ematha ki egw, kala pou mou to ksanathymises, oti prepei gia xeimwniatiko (kai oxi mono) fagito!
Filia!
I can never get enough gigantes! Especially when they are prepared in such a spicy fashion! Thanks for passing on this dish…I will go and check Soula’s blog out.
very nice – hearty. a perfect winter dish or side dish. i’m with you on the crusty bread. I’m imagining sprinkling some cheese on mine and then dunking it into this. love how the butter beans really give it that ooomph.
Thanks for sharing this vegetarian dish Peter. I finally had the opportunity to try butter beans last Christams.
You’ve gone and done it yet again – I NEED to make this Peter!!!
I LOVE hot peppers and butter beans, this looks pepper-beanie-licious indeedy!
hey–the bigger the bean, the better, as far as i’m concerned. this dish looks soooo appetizing and it’s something that i’d like to linger over and eat for a couple hours straight. delicious.
I am calling your blog “the drool factor”
Great dish, full of flavor! I would add more garlic is all!
Thanks for naming that dish I have been looking for, now I have a starting point for my search!
Oh and funny, in Lebanese, we say “fassoulia” for these beans!
I can imagine how these taste fantastic. I’ve never cooked them this way.
Now this is a wonderful warming dish! Matt was hoping to buy some Gigantes from Rancho Gordo this fall but they sadly didn’t have any
Peter, this dish looks amazing – it has all the components of a delicious meal. Thank you so much for sharing this, so we can all enjoy it!
Wow thgis looks so so delicous. Yeah what is wrong with ppl who don’t like hot peppers, i love them.
I am sure bookmarking this one.
Gigantes!!! Ivy sent me some from Greece! I loved them… Mmmmmm those peppers give the dish such a passionate twist ;D
That dish looks simply awesome. I’m with you Peter… hot pepper freak!
I’m preparing more vegetarian meals lately, this is definitely added to the roster.
Great idea on the hot peppers.
LL
How did I miss this post? Gigantes are delicious and this photo is no exception! It’s been ages since I last ate gigantes. My mother always brings the beans back from Greece and bakes a massive pan of them in the oven. Come to think of it, I should get her to make me some gigantes soon!
My father is from Serres and I love these kind of dishes… looks very good and mouth watering too…
Peter you always feature great dish. Have a wonderful week-end.
What a wonderful dish !
Edo vrehei astamatita…
Made the Fasoulotavas today. I know why I love your recipes…they’re like my Grandmother’s…which makes sense since we’re from Thessaloniki. I think they resonate with a primordial Macedonian gene (not FYROM). :-)
I love your recipes, but this one is special. I took the liberty of doctoring it up bit: I grilled a variety of hot peppers, peeled and chopped them, and added them to the beans. After the beans were cooked, the whole concoction was put in a baking dish with some feta cheese on top and baked until the cheese melted. Just delicious.
This looks absolutely delicious – so rustic and comforting. Just like all my favorite Greek foods!
δεν είχα δει την ανάÏτηση μÎχÏι που Îστειλες το μÎιλ, Ï„Îλειο το φαγάκι σου, και Îχω μια πείνα Ï„ÏŽÏα, θα’ θελα μια μεÏίδα!!!
ευχαÏιστώ για την αναφοÏά στο blog μου και στα καλά σου λόγια.
να είσαι καλά και πάντα να Îχεις την καλή διάθεση να κάνεις γνωστή την ελληνική κουζίνα εκτός συνόÏων