The recipe for gigantes plaki on toast is adapted from the amazing Smashing Plates by Maria Elia. I used tinned butter beans instead of gigantes, as I wasn’t able to source these – this affected the cooking times. I also changed the recipe for the toast, which would normally come with feta – I had so much cheese going on already that I didn’t think we needed any more!

Serves 4 people

Ingredients

Cheese Saganaki

200g kefalograviera cheese sliced (graviera, kefalotyri or kassera cheese work as alternatives)

100g butter

3 tbsp flour for dusting

250ml brandy

juice of 1 lemon

Gigantes plaki

450g tinned butter beans

120ml olive oil

1 onion, finely chopped

3 garlic cloves, finely chopped

1 tbsp tomato puree

1 tsp dried oregano

500g vine-ripened tomatoes, roughly chopped

1 bay leaf

1 tsp sugar

handful of finely chopped parsely

salt and pepper

Toast

4 pitta bread, toasted

1 tbsp olive oil

handful of shredded mint leaves

1oog kalamata olives

Method

Season each side of the slices of cheese with salt and pepper and put them in a shallow dish. Cover the cheese slices with the brandy and wrap the bowl in cling film. Refrigerate for one hour. Cook butter beans in a saucepan according to tin instructions. When cooked, drain the beans, reserving the liquid content from the tin. Preheat the oven to 160 °C /Gas mark 3. Heat the olive oil in a pan and gently cook the onion and garlic until softened. Add the tomato puree and cook for one more minute before adding the oregano, bay leaf, tomates, sugar and beans. Pour in the reserved liquid and season with salt and pepper. Once heated, pour the mixture into a large roasting dish and cover with foil. Cook in the oven for 30 minutes. If the beans begin to dry out, add some boiling water. Remove the foil and cook for a further 15 minutes, until the beans are very tender and most of the liquid has been absorbed. Meanwhile, melt the butter in the pan on a medium heat. As soon as it starts to bubble, coat the marinated slices of kefalograviera in a light dusting of flour. Fry in the butter, cooking each side for 3 minutes until golden and crisp. When the outside of the cheese looks ready, pour the reserved brandy over the cheese and bring to a rapid boil, shaking the pan back and forth. Toast 4 pitta breads and lightly brush each side with olive oil. Stir the mint through the gigantes plaki, season to taste and add the parsley. Serve the bean stew on top of the toasted pitta, with a slice of bubbling saganaki on top. Add kalamata olives to garnish.