Gigantes me spanaki (Greek butter beans with spinach)

Gigantes me spanaki is a simple one-dish bake made with butter beans, spinach and tomatoes — affordable, filling and perfect for batch cooking.

This is an edited extract from Thessaloniki by Meni Vale, published by Hardie Grant Books.

Serves: 4

Time to make: 1 hr 30 mins

Ingredients

More weights & measures

2 cups (400g) dried butter beans, soaked overnight (or 3× 400g tins butter beans)
¼ cup olive oil, plus extra for drizzling
1 onion, finely diced
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
4 tomatoes, grated
1 tablespoon tomato paste
500g spinach, washed well and chopped
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon sweet paprika
1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill
1 tablespoon chopped fresh flat-leaf (Italian) parsley

To serve
lemon wedges
crumbled feta

Instructions

Stay Awake

1 Preheat the oven to 190°C.

2 If using dried beans, rinse the soaked beans, place in a large saucepan and cover with water. Simmer over a medium heat for 20–30 minutes until soft but not collapsing.

3 Remove from the heat, drain and rinse under cold water.

4 Heat the olive oil in a frying pan over a medium heat and sauté the onion until softened, about 6 minutes. Add the garlic and sauté a further minute. Add the grated tomatoes and tomato paste, stir well and cook for 2–3 minutes. Add the spinach and cook for a few more minutes until the spinach has wilted.

5 Add the cooked beans (or tinned beans, draining and rinsing first) to the spinach mixture. Add the oregano, paprika, dill, parsley and 1 cup of water, season well with salt and pepper and mix through. Pour into an ovenproof dish about 32×24cm and drizzle with a little extra olive oil. Bake in the preheated oven for 20–30 minutes.

6 Serve warm with a squeeze of lemon and some crumbled feta.

Nutrition Info (per serve)

Calories 287 cal

Kilojoules 1199 kJ

Protein 11 g

Total fat 15 g

Saturated fat 2.3 g

Carbohydrates 20 g

Sugar 6.9 g

Dietary fibre 15 g

Sodium 399 mg

Calcium 165 mg

Iron 3.6 mg

Note: This nutrition analysis is a guide only. Nutrition composition will vary depending on the exact ingredients used. See our guides on your optimal daily nutrition intake, and supermarket shopping.