Baked Large Limas With Spinach And Feta Food

GIANT BEANS WITH SPINACH, TOMATOES AND FETA

Steps:

• Combine the beans, water, bay leaf, halved onion, and crushed garlic in a large saucepan and bring to a gentle boil. Reduce the heat and simmer 30 minutes. Add salt to taste and simmer another 30 minutes. The beans should be al dente: not yet soft but not hard either. Remove from the heat. Using tongs, remove and discard the onion, garlic and bay leaf. Place a strainer over a bowl and drain the beans. Taste the broth and adjust seasonings. Set aside.
• While the beans are simmering, blanch the spinach in a large pot of salted boiling water for 20 seconds, or steam just until it wilts, abut 1 minute. Transfer to a bowl of cold water, then drain and squeeze out excess water. Chop coarsely.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
• Heat 1 tablespoon of the olive oil over medium heat in a large, heavy skillet and add the leek and the scallions. Add a pinch of salt and cook, stirring often, until the mixture is tender, 3 to 5 minutes. Transfer to an ovenproof casserole or baking dish, preferably earthenware. Stir in the spinach, parsley, dill, beans, half the tomato purée, 2 cups of the bean broth and half the feta. Season to taste with salt and pepper and stir in another tablespoon of olive oil. Place the remaining tomatoes over the top and sprinkle on the remaining feta. Drizzle on the remaining tablespoon of olive oil. Cover and place in the oven.
• Bake 1 to 2 hours, checking the liquid every 20 minutes to make sure that the beans are submerged; add more bean broth if necessary. When they're done, the beans will be creamy but intact.

SPINACH AND FETA BAKED PASTA

Steps:

• Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees F. Start by cooking your pasta. Cook according to package directions and drain. Add the spinach leaves into the empty pasta cooking pot and then poor the hot pasta right on top of the spinach. Give it a stir to make sure the heat from the pasta gets to all the spinach. That should help wilt the spinach and break it down.
• Next, pour in the pasta sauce, feta cheese (make sure to leave a little for topping) and 1 cup of mozzarella cheese. Stir to make sure all the ingredients are evenly distributed and then pour pasta into a large baking dish (9×13). Top your pasta with another small handful of feta cheese and remaining 1/2 cup mozzarella and then cover pasta bake with aluminum foil.
• Place baked feta pasta in the oven and bake until you can hear the sauce bubbling, 20-25 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for another 5 minutes or so, until the cheese on top is melted.