Baked giant beans in tomato sauce (Gigantes plaki)

1. Soak the giant beans overnight in plenty of cold water; the next day drain, cook in fresh water for about 1 hour until almost tender, then drain, keeping 300 ml of the cooking liquid.

2. Finely chop the onions, carrots and celery, slice the garlic and grate the tomatoes.

3. Soften the onions, carrots and celery in half the olive oil in a frying pan for 10 minutes, add the garlic and tomato purée, then the grated tomatoes, sugar and oregano, and simmer for 10 minutes.

4. Mix the sauce with the beans, the reserved cooking liquid and most of the parsley, season and pour into a baking dish.

5. Drizzle with the remaining oil and bake at 180 °C for about 1 hour, until the sauce is thick and the beans on top are slightly crisp.

6. Sprinkle with the rest of the parsley and serve lukewarm with feta and bread.

Tip: Gigantes are the favourite beans of northern Greece; if you can't find them, use large butter beans. Only add the sauce once the beans are almost tender – the acidity of the tomato stops them from softening.