Beans and other pulses are one of the main ingredients of the traditional Greek diet. I love all sorts of pulses and cook them frequently. This week however, instead of cooking them I bought some delicious ready cooked Gigantes, giant creamy textured Greek butter beans, at the Kri Kri traditional bakery in Pagrati (Athens) that cooks one or two traditional Greek dishes per day alongside their bread and sweets at very reasonable prices . . . to the delight of their customers!
As I entered the Kri Kri bakery my eyes went directly to the two huge ceramic dishes that had just been brought out of the oven and placed on the store’s front counter . . . and reeked of simple perfection!
One was filled with finger licking tasty Gigantes baked in tomato sauce and the other with Briam; mixed roasted vegetables. I decided on a generous serving of the beans and a few traditional cheese pies . . . knowing that lunch that day would be a real delight as you can see from the photos.
The serving was so generous that I had enough for a second meal, today, when I had the beans with spinach and Feta cheese that was also truly healthy and delicious! Here is a link to the recipe: https://www.cook-eat-go.com/post/baked-giant-butter-beans-with-spinach-feta-cheese
As an avid home-cook I hardly ever buy ready made food from local vendors but this time around, I have to admit that I couldn't have cooked the butter beans any better . . . and I'm definitely going back for more of Kri Kri's traditional homemade specialties!
By the way, the cheese pies were also tops . . . made with Anthotiro (fresh low fat cheese)! Still have a few in the freezer ready for defrosting and re-heating. YUM!
If you want to visit this shop here is the Address:
5 Astydamantos Street, Pagrati
116 34 Athens
Tel: +30 210 7217716