Delicious, Greek comfort food, oven giants have a buttery sweet flavor and are the perfect canvas to match many vegetables, which highlight the whole and add nutritional value.

I like adding cabbage, an idea I tried for the first time in the bean soup they make around Feneos, in mountainous Corinth, where the local variety, “vanillies”, dominates.

The leek, smoked paprika and good quality tomato, give a thick, fruity and spicy sauce with extra sweetness and extra flavor interest.

Ingredients for 8 people

• 500 g. giants
• 1/2 cup virgin olive oil
• 2 dried onions, thinly sliced
• 1 leek, sliced ​​(white part only)
• 3 cloves garlic, sliced
• 1 celery stalk, finely chopped with leaves
• 1 carrot, thinly sliced
• 1 green pepper (or Florina pepper), diced
• 1/4 white cabbage, sliced
• 700 g Fresh, chopped tomatoes (or canned tomatoes)
• 2 tbsp tomato paste
• 1-2 hot chili peppers (seeded) or 2-3 tbsp. bukovo
• 1 tbsp. smoked paprika
• 1/2 bunch parsley
• 1 tbsp. water from the boiled giants
• salt
• freshly ground pepper

Instructions

Step 1: Soak the giants in plenty of water, for 8-12 hours to swell.

Step 2: When we are ready to cook them, put them in a pot with their water and add as much water as needed to cover their surface. Boil until they are soft, for about 40 minutes, with the pot half-covered, over low heat. There is no need to remove the foam. Set them aside.

Step 3: While the giants are boiling, in a deep pan, pour half the olive oil and sauté the vegetables. The order is as follows: first the dry and fresh onion for 10 minutes, then the garlic, carrot, celery, pepper and cabbage and sauté for 2-3 more minutes until they wilt. Add the hot pepper, paprika, tomatoes, parsley and salt and pepper. Boil for 10 minutes. In the meantime, preheat the oven to 180 degrees C with air.

Step 4: In a ceramic baking dish (long 37×25 cm. or round 35 cm.), place the boiled giants, which we have drained, keeping their water. Pour over the vegetables and add the remaining olive oil, along with 1 cup of their water, so that they are covered. Add salt and pepper.

Step 5: Bake at 180 degrees C, for about 45 minutes, until they turn honey-colored and are left with their oil. In the meantime, check that they are not left without liquid, and if necessary, add a little of their water. If we bake without air, we set the oven to a higher temperature (200 degrees C). Also, we cover the baking sheet with wet non-stick paper, so that the giants do not dry out quickly on the outside, and just before they are ready, we mix them and put the oven for 3-5 minutes on the grill to create a crispy crust.

Step 6: We let the food rest for 10 minutes and serve either alone, or with toasted bread. It goes very well with feta cheese, goat cheese (if you are not a fan of feta like me) or strained yogurt.

Tips

•Slow cooking makes the giants mellow and sweet. On the contrary, high heat dissolves them on the outside, leaving their inside uncooked.

•We always keep the water we soak the giants in, for boiling and baking in the oven.

•Prespes has the most delicious giants in Greece.

•Their caloric value is relatively low since 1 cup of cooked giants provides approximately 260 calories.

• They were considered the meat of the poor. They are rich in calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, potassium, fiber and protein. They contain soluble and insoluble fiber, which act double and make the digestive system work smoothly.
• They have a low glycemic index and are beneficial for the heart.
• They control weight and contribute to bone and tooth health.

We don’t throw anything away!

Bonus ideas/ Leftovers: The good thing about giants is that whatever is left over gives new dishes the next day.

Breakfast: serve the giants the next day with a fried or poached egg and chopped parsley for freshness. If you are not vegetarian, add some crispy bacon.

Lunch/dinner: We put them as a filling in baked sweet potatoes. After cutting the sweet potatoes in half, we score them and place them on a baking sheet, flesh side down, sprinkle a little olive oil and bake them for 15 minutes in a preheated oven. When they are cooked, remove the flesh, which we mix with the giants, a little crispy bacon. Put 2-3 tablespoons of filling in each sweet potato “boat”, add whatever cheese we have (parmesan, cheddar, gruyere, feta) and bake until lightly browned.