White beans with leaf spinach

Ingredients for 2 servings:

• 250 g beans, white, dried
• salt water
• 400 g leaf spinach, fresh or frozen
• 30 g dill, fresh
• 1 m.-sized onion(s)
• 2 m.-sized garlic cloves, fresh
• 4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 350 g tomatoes, fully ripe
• n. B. Salt and pepper, black, from the mill
• e.g. celery leaves, fresh, chopped
• n. B. Pine nuts, roasted

Instructions

Working time approx. 30 minutes; Cooking/baking time approx. 50 minutes; Total time approx. 1 hour 20 minutes

a recipe from Crete

Wash the beans and boil them in plenty of salted water until half cooked. This takes about 25 minutes. Roughly chop the fresh spinach, lightly salt it, and after 15 minutes, gently press the water into a clean tea towel. Defrost frozen spinach in a sieve and, once thawed, press the water in the same way. Strain the beans and let them drain. Finely chop the fresh dill. Peel the tomatoes, quarter them lengthwise, remove the seeds, and halve them crosswise. Finely chop the onion and garlic and sauté them in olive oil until translucent. Add the tomatoes, spinach, and half-cooked beans and simmer until the beans are tender. Season with salt and pepper, and stir in the dill. Divide the beans among the serving plates, garnish, and serve with white bread. Cretans prefer bread, especially white bread, as a side dish to all other side dishes.