Gigantes

Cook Time 1 hour

Servings 4-6

Ingredients

½ kg dried lima or butter beans
2 cups of celery, finely chopped
1 red capsicum, finely chopped
1 medium carrot, cut into cubes
1 410g can of Ardmona crushed tomatoes
2 onions, finely sliced
2 cloves of garlic
1 tbsp tomato paste
2 bay leaves
1 pinch of chilli flakes (optional)
1 tsp sweet paprika
1 cup of parsley
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
½ tsp pepper
1L chicken stock

Method

Wash your beans thoroughly. Fill a large saucepan with cold water and add your beans. Bring the beans to a boil, simmer for 10 minutes then discard the water. Rinse the beans again.

In the same saucepan, add the beans and fill with cold water again. The water should be about 2 inches above the beans. Add the bay leaves, celery, capsicum and carrot, then bring to a boil. Once bubbly, turn down the heat and simmer for 15-20 minutes

In the meantime, sauté your onion and garlic in a deep frypan. Add the chilli flakes, tomato paste, crushed tomatoes and paprika. Cook for 5 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 180°C. Using a ladle, pour the beans into a baking dish and then add the tomato mixture, salt, pepper and sugar. Mix carefully and thoroughly. Add the chicken stock. The mixture should not be like soup but should not be dry either. Bake for 35 minutes, making sure the beans are cooked

Sprinkle with parsley, noting that the amount of the parsley depends on the quantity of the beans.

Note
I try whenever possible to buy Australian beans – look for unblemished white-coloured ones. If they have a tinge of yellow, they are stale. In the event that you can’t find the dried variety feel free to use canned lima beans. The recipe will be the same except that you do not have to bring the beans to the boil. Approximately 5 cans will give you the same quantity.