Fasolakia, Green Beans & Feta

📝 Ingredients

• 1 kg frozen green beans
• 600 g potatoes (4 medium, about 150 g each)
• 2 brown onions (about 100 g each)
• 3 garlic cloves
• 1 tin of chopped tomatoes (400 g)
• 1 tbsp tomato purée + 1 tsp caster sugar
• 5 tbsp olive oil (4 for cooking, 1 for serving)
• 300 ml hot water
• 200 g feta
• 20 g fresh parsley
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 240 g country bread (to serve)
• Salt, black pepper

🍴 Utensils

• Large casserole dish with lid
• Wooden spoon
• Peeler
• Knife and chopping board

📖 Steps

1. Peel the potatoes and cut them into large 4 to 5 cm chunks (quarters for medium ones): any smaller and they would fall apart during the long simmer. Thinly slice the onions, chop the garlic and finely chop the parsley, keeping the chopped stalks separate.
2. Heat 4 tbsp olive oil in a large casserole dish over a medium heat. Fry the onions for 6 to 8 min, stirring, until soft and translucent but not browned. Add the garlic and parsley stalks, then cook for 1 min.
3. Add the tomato purée and stir it in the oil for 1 min to cook out its raw taste. Pour in the chopped tomatoes, sugar, hot water, 1 level tsp salt and some pepper, then bring to a simmer.
4. Add the green beans straight from frozen (no need to thaw them) and the potatoes. Stir to coat them well in the sauce: the liquid should come almost level with the vegetables; if not, add a little water.
5. Cover and simmer for 35 min over a low heat, stirring gently every 10 min with a wooden spoon so as not to break up the potatoes. The beans should become very tender, almost melting: that's the whole spirit of the dish.
6. Remove the lid and continue for 10 min over a medium heat, until the sauce has reduced and become thick and glossy and the oil rises to the surface: it is then rich and jammy. Check the potatoes are cooked with a knife and adjust the seasoning.
7. Off the heat, stir in the chopped parsley leaves and leave to cool slightly for 10 min, covered: in Greece, fasolakia is eaten warm, once the flavours have settled, with bread to mop up the sauce.
8. Divide between shallow bowls, crumble the feta over the top, sprinkle with oregano and drizzle with the last tbsp of olive oil. Serve with the country bread, sliced.