Photo: Gigante Beans Recipe
Directions
*Due to the soaking time, this is definitely a plan ahead recipe.
Ingredients
- 1 pound gigante or corona beans
- 1 large onions, skin removed, root end left on, cut in 1/2
- 1 large or 2 small carrots, peeled and halved
- 2 ribs celery, broken in 1/2
- 3 cloves garlic
- 1 bundle thyme
- 3 bay leaves
- 1 piece slab bacon skin or prosciutto skin, or a couple slices bacon
- Kosher salt
Soak the beans in water overnight.
Soooooooooooo...if you didn't think yesterday to soak your beans you can do the "quick soak" method, which is to put your beans in a pot covered by at least 2 inches of water. Bring the water to a boil, turn the heat off and let the pot sit until the water cools down naturally and then pick up the process as if you had soaked the beans overnight.
Strain the beans from the soaking water. Put the beans in a large pot and cover generously with water. Add the onions, carrot, celery, garlic, thyme, bay leaves and bacon skin. Bring the water to a boil over medium heat. Reduce the heat and simmer the beans until all the beans are soft, about 1 hour. Add more water if it reduces too much. Test the beans for doneness by doing the 5 bean test. Bite 5 beans, if they are all soft then they are done. Beans do NOT all cook at the same rate so the 5 bean test is important.
When the beans are cooked, remove the pot from the heat. Season the water generously with salt and let sit for 15 minutes. Transfer the beans to a serving bowl and serve. If not using the beans right away, store them in the refrigerator in their liquid.
Beans, beans the musical fruit...
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By bterchin
on January 06, 2013
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The recipe is good. I agree with epopovitz. Only Greek specialty stores carry these beans. They're not cheap, either. My favorite way to cook them is with a tomato-based sauce. I came to this love from a Greek restaurant i went to last month. Also, Whole Foods and Sunset Foods carries in their by-the-pound buffet a delicious gigante beans in a vinaigrette. Awesome. Also, my first time cooking them took loger than I thought, more like 2 hours to get them soft. Why?Maybe I kept them on too low a simmer?
By epopovitz_11332492
Denver, CO
on November 14, 2009
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You will have a hard time finding these beans unless you live an a culinary hot spot. I searched Whole Foods and Gourmet markets but finally tried a Greek Market and hit pay dirt. The only change I made was to leave out the bacon. I'm a vegetarian and I still found them to be flavorful without the pork. I used the beans as the foundation for some pecan encrusted Tempeh.
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