Fasolakia: Greek green bean Stew

Fasolakia is Mediterranean eating at its best. This Greek green bean stew is richly flavoured with olive oil, tomatoes and oregano. Topped with salty feta and accompanied by a slice of fresh sourdough bread, and you have a dish they would have eaten in Ephesus.

Simple Food with Full Flavour

Simple food is absolutely amazing if it is served with fresh and flavourful ingredients. This stew is a good example of that. It is ideal for summer and fall, when green beans are abundant. Traditionally it would be made with fresh tomatoes, but I use canned in this recipe because I generally don’t have time to blanch and peel tomatoes. However, the key to making this soup stand out is:

• Good quality extra virgin olive oil
• Fresh feta – Though I won’t peel tomatoes, I love making feta. It is so easy and affordable.
• Sourdough bread – Again homemade is best!

Fasolakia: Greek-style green beans

★★★★★

5 from 2 reviews

Fasolakia is a delicious Greek green bean stew that is amazing when paired with salty feta cheese. It is really simple to make, yet impressive enough to serve at a dinner party.

• Author: Emillie
• Prep Time: 15 minutes
• Cook Time: 1 hour
• Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
• Yield: Serves 4-6 1x
• Category: Main Dish
• Method: Stewed
• Cuisine: Greek

Scale 1x2x3x

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1 lbs onions, sliced (about 2 large onions)
• 4 cloves of garlic, chopped
• 6 whole peppercorns
• 28 oz can of diced tomatoes in juice
• 1 1/2 tsp salt (or more to taste)
• 1 tsp ground pepper
• 2 tbsp oregano
• 1 lbs of potatoes, sliced (about 3 large potatoes)
• 2 lbs green beans (about 8 cups loosely packed)
• 1 lbs feta
• 1/2 cup chopped parsley

Instructions

1. Cover the bottom of a pot with olive oil and saute the onions on high for 5 minutes.
2. Add the garlic, peppercorns, tomatoes, salt and ground pepper and and cook for another 5 minutes.
3. Stir the sliced potatoes and oregano into the sauce. Then, layer the green beans on top of the tomato mixture. Do not stir them in!
4. Add enough water to make the liquid come halfway through the layer of beans.
5. Cover and simmer on the stove for 1 hour.
6. Top with parsley and crumbled feta, and serve with sourdough bread.

Notes

• You could replace the feta with homemade halloumi or well pressed and salted kefir cheese.
• Use crumbled tofu for a vegan alternative to feta.
• This dish is perfect for my cast iron dutch oven (affiliate link), but you could use a regular stainless steel pot.

Keywords: vegan, vegetarian, gluten free, paleo, keto, summer, fall, side dish, Turkish, Mediterranean