Greek-Style Baked White Beans in Tomato Sauce

Gigantes plaki, or gigante beans baked in tomato sauce, is a Greek classic. The delicious version we tasted at Manousakis Winery on the island of Crete had us eager to re-create the dish ourselves. But we quickly learned that dried gigante beans, a type of large, white runner bean—they are not lima beans, contrary to what some sources say—are not widely available in the U.S. We discovered that great northern beans, though smaller, are an excellent alternative. (We prefer them over cannellini beans, which are slightly larger but have a tendency to cook unevenly and break down even if just slightly overdone.) If you are able to source dried gigante beans, they will require at least 50 minutes of covered cooking in the Dutch oven to become tender, and even when fully cooked, will have a firmer texture than great northerns. This is a multi-step recipe but requires minimal hands-on time. First, the soaked beans are simmered in a pot in the oven until tender; meanwhile, a rich tomato sauce is cooked on the stovetop. The two then are combined and finished in the oven, where the flavors deepen and concentrate.