DRIED PULSES WEEK: Baked giant beans with Winter veggies in tomato sauce, served with country-style sausages

This is truly a delicious, rustic-style and so hearty Wintertime meal! Inspired by a traditional recipe coming from Central Greece you will see how nicely balanced are the various flavours and how the giant beans "need" really the sausages to elevate the classic dish to something special! A rich red wine is the most appropriate to serve next to this dish

Cooked by Efi Yialoussi,

"Cook Book" magazine of "ETHNOS" newspaper

Ingredients (for 6 people):
250 gr. of giant beans

2 carrots, peeled and cut in slices

2 sprigs of celery, finely chopped

1 large yellow onion, finely chopped (or in thin slices)

1 large leek, finely chopped (only the white part)

2 cloves of garlic, cut in thin slices
1 tsp of granulated sugar
1/2 glass of white dry wine

2 large country-style sausages, cut in medium pieces

1/3 cup of olive oil
1/2 cup of warm water

1 cup of finely chopped tomatoes

salt
pepper

Method:
The day before, place the giant beans in a large bowl filled with water and leave them to soak the whole night.

The next day boil the beans in a large pot filled with water (no salt) for not more than 30 minutes. Transfer in a colander and leave the beans to drain well.

Preheat the oven to 200°C.

Transfer the beans in a spacious oven pan and add the onion, the leek, the carrots, the celery, the garlic, the tomato and the sugar. Pour over the warm water, the wine and the olive oil, season with salt and pepper and gently stir.

Put in the oven and bake the beans for about 25 minutes or until they are cooked through and a nice oily tomato sauce is left in the pan.

In the meantime, sauté the sausages in a non-stick frying pan with a bit of oil in medium-low heat until they are cooked and lightly browned.

Take the pan out of the oven pour over the fried sausages and serve immediately.