Baked Green Beans with Creamy Feta
Creamed green beans are a classic on holiday tables like Thanksgiving. Baked green beans with a feta melt add an obviously Greek touch to this dish. I like to use one of the most classic Greek recipes for green beans, called yiahni, which is basically a way to simmer them with tomatoes and onions, and then to transform that into something new that works within the tasty parameters of the Mediterranean diet! By placing them in a casserole dish and using that viral baked feta idea, watching it melt into a creamy sauce, this recipe is not only delicious, it’s pretty healthy, too!
Ingredients
- 3 - 5 tablespoons extra virgin Greek olive oil
- 1 large red onion coarsely chopped
- Greek sea salt to taste
- 1 ½ pounds fresh or frozen green beans trimmed
- 2 teaspoons Greek garlic puree
- 2 cups cherry or teardrop tomatoes halved
- 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar preferably Greek
- 1 tablespoon petimezi grape molasses
- 1 heaping teaspoon dried Greek oregano
- Finely grated zest of 1 lemon
- 1 2 ½- inch square of Greek feta about ¾-inch thick
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350F/170C.
- Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a frying pan over medium heat and cook the onions with a little salt until wilted and lightly browned.
- Bring a pot of salted water to a boil and blanch the green beans for 1 minutes. Drain and set aside.
- Add the garlic puree to the onions and stir. Next, add the tomatoes and stir them gently into the onion-garlic mixture. Add the balsamic vinegar and petimezi and gently stir to combine.
- Place the drained green beans and tomato-onion-garlic mixture in a baking dish. Toss with additional olive oil. Mix in the oregano and lemon zest. Place the feta in the middle of the casserole and bake for 20 - 25 minutes, or until the feta is very soft.
- Remove, mix all together so that the feta melts and is distributed evenly throughout the beans. Serve.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!