Yahni

Beans cooked in oil and tomato until they are soft right through, which is deliberate and is not overcooking.

Vegan.

Ingredients

1 kg flat green beans, topped and tailed
3 onions, sliced
4 cloves garlic, sliced
600 g ripe tomatoes, grated, or tinned
150 ml olive oil
2 potatoes, in large chunks
1 teaspoon sugar
1 bunch parsley, chopped
200 ml hot water
salt and pepper

Method

THE BEANS ARE COOKED UNTIL THEY ARE SOFT RIGHT THROUGH AND THAT IS DELIBERATE. Forty minutes, not eight. Anyone trained to keep a green bean squeaky will take this off the heat far too early and wonder why it tastes thin: the beans are meant to collapse, lose their colour and take up the oil and tomato, and the dish does not exist until they have.
IT IS COOKED IN OIL RATHER THAN WATER, which is the other half of the same idea. A hundred and fifty millilitres looks like a great deal and is the body of the sauce -- there is nothing else thickening it. Reduce the oil and add water instead and you get boiled beans in tomato juice.
AND IT IS EATEN WARM OR COLD, NOT HOT. An hour off the heat is better than straight from the pan, and the next day is better still. The oil settles and the flavour comes forward.
Beans topped, tailed and snapped in half if long. Flat beans are better here than fine ones, which disintegrate.
Oil in a wide pan over a medium-low heat. Onions in with a pinch of salt and cooked 15 minutes until completely soft and sweet. Garlic for the last minute.
Tomatoes and sugar in, simmered 10 minutes until the raw edge has gone.
Beans and potatoes in, turned through the sauce until every one is coated.
The hot water poured down the side -- just enough to come halfway up, not to cover. This is a braise rather than a stew.
Lid on, lowest heat, 40 minutes. Stirred twice, gently.
Lid off for the last 10 minutes so what is left reduces to a thick sauce around the beans rather than a liquid under them.
Seasoned, parsley through.
Left to stand at least 30 minutes before eating. Feta and bread beside it.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

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