Roasted beans in tomato sauce

The epitome of the best vegetarian dish in the Mediterranean, these roasted beans in tomato sauce are packed in so much protein, antioxidants, and fiber that can make anyone happy while being such an inexpensive dish.

Traditionally, at least in my family, this recipe has always been as a side dish in our Sunday get together.

As the beans here are the key component, getting those big kidney beans would be the best, but any other type of beans work, to be honest. In the post you will find two recipes:

1. The first one with fresh beans
2. The second one with already canned beans

You will need for the fresh beans:

1. Fresh beans soaked overnight
2. one chopped garlic
3. half a chopped onion and peppers
4. some sort of tomato sauce
5. Optional:
   1. Bay leaf
   2. Hot peppers
   3. Fresh parsley

How to get it done:

1. In a deep pot, add some olive oil and saute the onion and the peppers
2. After the onions are translucent throw in the chopped garlic
3. Give it a quick stir and then throw in the beans and then add the tomato sauce. The tomato sauce can be chopped tomatoes, tomato pure or anything that you have.
4. At this point, I would put the heat to medium and add about a glass of water. What we are aiming for is about 30-40 minutes of boiling. After which we expect most of the liquid to have evaporated.
5. If you have a bay leaf laying around, add it
6. These roasted beans in tomato sauce now should be somewhat soft. Keep in mind that they will spend around 30-40 minutes in the oven
7. Turn on the oven at 180 degrees
8. If you have small casseroles, throw in the mixture, add some olive oil, top it with some salt and pepper.
9. Usually, when we cook this, we make a couple of casseroles as it dries faster and you get crunchy beans on top.
10. Bake them for 30-40 minutes. Give the beans a try before you take them out as they are supposed to be cooked.

For the canned beans:

1. Depending on the type of beans that you have, some are sweeter than usual. Keep that in mind and adjust as necessary when it comes to marinating.
2. Disregard the water and the 30 minutes of boiling.
3. Put less sauce as the extra water will not evaporate.
4. Adjust the baking as necessary. I would recommend around 15-20 min in high heat.

On another side note, check out this recipe about making or buying products or sauces. Similar cheaping out logic.