Chef Dimitra
Anginares a la Polita, Constantinople Artichokes (Αγκινάρες αλά Πολίτα)
Constantinople's spring artichokes, pale and lemony, braised with potato, carrot, peas, dill, and enough olive oil to make the sauce shine.
Culinary Explorer
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Roumeli Fasolakia Ladera (Φασολάκια Λαδερά της Ρούμελης)
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Roumeli fasolakia ladera are flat green beans, tomato, potato, and olive oil cooked low until the beans turn silky and the oil pools green-gold on top.
Main Dishes
Greek
Weeknight
Budget Friendly
Comfort Food
20 min
Active Time
1 hr 10 min cook•1 hr 30 min total
Yield4 to 6 servings
Roumeli fasolakia ladera are the summer green beans of the mainland pot, flat beans simmered with tomato, potato, onion, herbs, and enough olive oil to make the sauce shine. The region is the dish's surname. In Central Greece, this is not a side dish pushed beside meat. It is the meal, with bread, maybe feta, and a table that quiets down once the pot arrives.
The one thing to get right is tenderness. Fasolakia aren't meant to be bright and crisp here. They cook until they turn olive green and silky, until the tomato thickens and the oil comes back to the surface in little pools. Rush them and you get beans in tomato sauce. Wait for them and you get ladero, food carried by oil, not hidden under it.
Use good summer tomatoes if you have them. If the tomatoes are sad, use good canned crushed tomato without shame, because sourcing wins. Λίγα και καλά, a few things, and good ones. I write this version the way I found it in mainland kitchens: potatoes for body, parsley and dill at the end, no tricks, no decoration. Just the daily Greek pot, alive and reliable.
Fasolakia ladera belong to the Greek category of ladera, vegetables cooked with olive oil until the oil becomes part of the sauce rather than a finish poured on top. The form became especially important in Orthodox fasting cookery, where vegetables, pulses, bread, and olive oil carried whole meals without meat or dairy. Green beans reached Greek kitchens after the New World bean traveled through European and Ottoman trade, while tomato became common in everyday Greek cooking much later, mainly in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
flat green beans
Quantity
700g
trimmed and halved if long
ripe tomatoes
Quantity
500g
grated, or use 400g canned crushed tomatoes
yellow onion
Quantity
1 large
finely chopped
potatoes
Quantity
2 medium
peeled and cut into thick wedges
garlic cloves
Quantity
2
thinly sliced
extra virgin Koroneiki olive oil
Quantity
120ml
divided
water
Quantity
180ml
flat-leaf parsley
Quantity
15g
chopped
fresh dill
Quantity
10g
chopped
fine sea salt
Quantity
1 teaspoon
plus more to taste
freshly ground black pepper
Quantity
1/2 teaspoon
sugar (optional)
Quantity
1/2 teaspoon
only if the tomatoes are sharp
lemon juice (optional)
Quantity
1 tablespoon
for serving
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| flat green beanstrimmed and halved if long | 700g |
| ripe tomatoesgrated, or use 400g canned crushed tomatoes | 500g |
| yellow onionfinely chopped | 1 large |
| potatoespeeled and cut into thick wedges | 2 medium |
| garlic clovesthinly sliced | 2 |
| extra virgin Koroneiki olive oildivided | 120ml |
| water | 180ml |
| flat-leaf parsleychopped | 15g |
| fresh dillchopped | 10g |
| fine sea saltplus more to taste | 1 teaspoon |
| freshly ground black pepper | 1/2 teaspoon |
| sugar (optional)only if the tomatoes are sharp | 1/2 teaspoon |
| lemon juice (optional)for serving | 1 tablespoon |
Equipment Needed
- •wide heavy pot with lid, 28cm
- •box grater for fresh tomatoes
Instructions
- 1
Prepare the beans
Trim the fasolakia, the flat green beans, pulling away any tough strings from the sides. Halve very long beans so they sit properly in the pot. Rinse them well and let them drain while you grate the tomatoes.
- 2
Start the base
Warm 80ml of the olive oil in a wide, heavy pot over medium heat. Add the onion with a pinch of the salt and cook for 8 to 10 minutes, until soft and pale gold at the edges. Add the garlic for the last minute. Don't brown it hard. This is a sweet summer pot, not a dark stew.
- 3
Add tomato
Stir in the grated tomatoes, salt, pepper, and sugar if the tomatoes need it. Let the sauce bubble for 6 minutes, until it smells rounded and the raw edge has gone. If your tomatoes are watery, give them another few minutes. A thin tomato base makes thin fasolakia.
- 4
Layer and simmer
Add the beans and potatoes, turning them through the tomato and oil until every piece is glossed. Pour in 180ml water. Bring to a gentle boil, then lower the heat, cover the pot, and simmer for 45 minutes. Shake the pot now and then instead of stirring hard, so the potatoes stay whole.
The method that decides fasolakia is the slow simmer in enough olive oil. The beans shouldn't stay bright and squeaky. They should relax, turn olive green, and drink the tomato until the oil rises back to the surface. - 5
Finish uncovered
Uncover the pot and simmer for another 15 to 20 minutes, until the beans are very tender, the potatoes yield to a fork, and the sauce is thick enough to cling. Stir in the remaining 40ml olive oil, parsley, and dill. Rest the pot off the heat for 15 minutes before serving. Ladera taste better when they stop shouting from the heat.
- 6
Serve the pot
Serve warm or at room temperature, with bread for the oil and sauce. Add a squeeze of lemon only at the table if you like the sharper Roumeli finish. Feta belongs beside it if you're not keeping the fast. During nisteia, the Orthodox fasting days, the pot needs nothing else.
Chef Tips
- •Choose flat green beans if you can. Round string beans will cook, but they don't give the same silky surface. If the beans are old and tough, no method will flatter them.
- •Don't be frightened by the olive oil. Ladero means cooked in oil, and the oil carries flavor through the vegetables. Use less and the pot turns watery.
- •Fasolakia keep well for 3 days in the refrigerator and taste excellent at room temperature. Warm them gently, or let them sit out for 30 minutes before eating.
Advance Preparation
- •The beans can be trimmed up to 1 day ahead and kept covered in the refrigerator.
- •The finished dish can be made 1 day ahead. Rested ladera are often better the next day.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 340g)
Calories
285 calories
Total Fat
20 g
Saturated Fat
3 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
17 g
Cholesterol
0 mg
Sodium
470 mg
Total Carbohydrates
25 g
Dietary Fiber
7 g
Sugars
9 g
Protein
4 g
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