Well hello! It’s been a while. But I’m back with an easy and filling recipe that is kind of a cross between Breton Beans (Fasolka po Bretonsku), which are very popular in Poland, and Greek Gigantes.

You can basically turn these into Breton Beans if you add kielbasa or boczek before baking. These are plenty flavorful without meat.

For the beans, I used dried Piękny Jaś (handsome Johnny beans) which are hard to find outside of a Polish deli, so you can use any dried white bean, such as butter beans. Canned beans would probably get too mushy, especially if you choose a very soft variety like cannellini, but if you are truly short on time, what can ya do?! If you can, stick with dried beans.

Ingredients:

• 16 oz dried white beans (such as Piękny Jaś or butter beans)
• 28 oz crushed tomatoes (or 4-5 freshly grated tomatoes)
• 1 yellow onion
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1/3 cup tomato paste
• 1 cup vegetable stock (or 1 cup water + 1/4 cube of vegetable bouillon)
• 1/2 tbsp honey
• 1/4 cup freshly chopped dill
• Seasonings:
• 1 1/2 tbsp marjoram
• 1/2 tsp onion powder
• 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 tsp Hungarian paprika
• 1/4 tsp smoked paprika
• 2 bay leaves
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp Vegeta seasoning

Directions:

Soak beans overnight, or according to instructions on packaging.

Drain beans, put in a medium sized pot add enough fresh water to clear about 2 inches over beans, and a few pinches of salt.

For Piękny Jaś beans (for all other beans, follow cooking instructions on packaging, but stop cooking before they get fully soft, as you will still bake them): Bring to a boil, and then immediately reduce heat to low and simmer for an hour and a half with lid on. After an hour and a half, the beans should be soft enough to bite through, but still be slightly firm in center. Drain beans.

While beans are cooking, finely chop 1 onion and add to a pan with about 1/2 tbsp of oil on medium-low heat. Add a few pinches of salt. Crush 3 garlic cloves and add to pan. Cook for about 15 minutes, or until onions and garlic have softened. Then remove from heat.

In a baking dish (I used ~9x9x3in), add all ingredients together (but reserve a little bit of the dill to top the dish) and mix together until evenly incorporated.

Preheat oven to 350F. Add baking dish, and bake for about 1 hour, or until beans reach desired tenderness. Adjust seasoning to your taste if necessary and top with remaining fresh dill and serve. They will taste better the next day!