Gigantes plaki (Greek baked giant beans) with homemade labneh on sourdough toast

This was our dinner last night. Classic gigantes, Greek giant beans baked in the oven with lots of olive oil, tomatoes, onions and peppers that I got at the market the other day when I was overwhelmed with excitement at the sight of said peppers and came back home with two bags full of them instead of the two peppers that I actually needed. Other women do this with shoes and handbags, I do this with vegetables. That’s me.

But I digress. This meal. Last evening. When the temperature was about 30°C (and today is around 40°C) and all I could think of was a beach hammock and clear blue seas. This too will come, soon…
I didn’t heat up the beans, we had them at room temp. The beauty of cooking with olive oil…

I toasted some slices of sourdough, not homemade this time, and on top I laid the buttery, meaty, plump and ultra flavorful giant beans, surrounded by the rich, thick and slightly spicy sauce that made them even more irresistible to me. Because gigantes are my favorite legumes in the whole world, have I told you that? And I could eat them all the time, which I actually do, because I make a huge tray every two to three weeks.

I had also made labneh for another dish— I will talk to you about that soon enough— and had some leftover in the fridge, which was serendipitous because I had never traded feta for any other cheese to pair with my legumes before and to my surprise, the super tangy quality and creaminess of the labneh was a perfect match to the rich, sweet beans. Some fresh parsley scattered on top, not for show but for freshness, and a bit more dried chilli, because spice rules the world.

Here you go. Enjoy!

Gigantes plaki (Greek baked giant beans) with homemade labneh on sourdough toast

Here is the recipe for the gigantes plaki and here for the labneh.

Servings: 2

Ingredients
4-6 sourdough bread slices, toasted
Gigantes plaki (Greek baked giant beans), at room temp preferably
Labneh, homemade (or store-bought)
Fresh, flat-leaf parsley, leaves only
Extra virgin olive oil
Chilli powder


Preparation
If you prefer the beans to be hot, keep in mind that they may soak your sourdough if you don’t eat it straight away.

Lay the beans (as many as you want) on top of the toasted bread, adding the thick sauce as well. My recipe for the gigantes makes a thick, rich sauce. If you don’t follow my recipe and your sauce is thinner, don’t add a lot of it or your toast will be soggy.
Add some pieces of labneh on top of the beans and scatter some parsley leaves. Drizzle with a little extra virgin olive oil and sprinkle some chilli on top.
Eat immediately.