Baked Gigantes

At the top of my dad's "favorite things that your mother makes" list is baked gigantes. This bean dish is a staple in Greek cooking, much like lentil soup and stuffed peppers. Yet unlike lentil soup and stuffed peppers, I had never made it before myself. Shocking, I know. So as soon as I returned home from Greece, I sent my mother an email that said the follow:

Dear mom,

Please send me the baked gigantes recipe EXACTLY as you make it in the states. Don't leave ANYTHING out.

Love,

Cyn

You see, my mom has this little habit of giving me a recipe that's missing one or two small ingredients that end up playing a big role in the flavor factor of the recipe. For this reason, I usually make her cook the dish in front of me so that I can write down the recipe in real time. Annoying? Yes. Thorough? You bet!

So, the following is straight from my mother's response email:

Cyndy,

Relax. To make gigantes in the states, I fix them the following way.

Ingredients:

3 cans of butter beans (the largest kind)
1 bunch of green onions, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
2 cloves of chopped garlic
1 cubanele green pepper, diced
1/3 cup olive oil
1/2 cup fresh parsley, chopped
2 Tbs. tomato paste
1 1/2 cup water (dilute the tomato paste with the water)
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp sweet paprika
1 tsp salt (adjust to taste)
1 Tbs. flour

1) Saute both types of onions in the olive oil. After a couple of minutes, add in the chopped garlic.

2) After they are translucent (about 10 minutes) add the water with the diluted tomato paste.

3) Let it simmer for about 10 minutes and then add all the rest of the ingredients except the flour.

4) Let this simmer for 45 minutes in low heat. If you see that the water has evaporated, add more.

5) Drain and wash the butter beans. Put them in a shallow bakin dish.

6) When the sauce is done, pour it over the beans. Sprinkle the flour on top and bake in preheated oven (375 degrees) for about 45 minutes.

7) Check often and add hot water if needed. You want the gigantes to be moist but not too watery.

So there you have it folks. Baked gigantes straight from my little Greek mother and she really is a tiny thing, barely topping 5' 4". Yes, I realize that it's the average height for women, but I'm 5'11", my brother is 6'2" and my dad is 6'...so you see, in our family, mama is little.

Now, please make this immediately and if you have any complaints about the authenticity of the taste, I'd be happy to publish my mother's email address so that you can complain to management directly. It's the least I could do for all of the loving and nurturing that's she's given me over the years.