Armenian-Style Bean Plaki (Baked)

Ingredients

• 1 cup dried white beans (dermason)
• 1½ cups olive oil
• 5 medium onions, finely diced
• 2 cups tomato sauce, not paste (or blend 3 kg tomatoes and cook down to a fifth, seasoned with salt and olive oil)
• 1 level tbsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp ground black pepper
• 1 tbsp ground lemon thyme (any thyme will do)
• water, as needed

Equipment

Deep bowl, large pot, spoon, oven, oven rack, ovenproof dish (glass or clay), oven cloth or mitts

Method

1. Soak the beans for at least 16 hours, changing the water four times in total. Boil them in their soaking water for 10 minutes, then in fresh water until tender. Set aside in their cooking water.
2. Warm the olive oil in a pot, add the onions and cook over medium-high heat for 30 minutes, stirring now and then so they don’t stick, until caramelized.
3. Add the tomato sauce and cook for 5 minutes, stirring.
4. Add the sugar, cinnamon, pepper and salt, and taste.
5. Add all the beans with 1 cup of their cooking water, keeping the rest aside. Cook covered over medium heat for 10 minutes.
6. Stir in the thyme, give the beans one more stir and transfer them to the ovenproof dish.
7. Set the dish on the oven rack so that its top sits four or five fingers below the heating element. Cook on the top grill setting at 210°C for 15 minutes, until the surface browns through the Maillard reaction.
8. Take it out with mitts, drizzle with a very aromatic extra virgin olive oil and let it cool until just warm.