Main Dish

Tavče Gravče

Name: Tavče Gravče
Prep time: 70 min
Total time: 70 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: North Macedonia
Ingredients: 400 g dried giant tetovo beans, soaked overnight; 2 onions, finely chopped; 2 roasted red peppers, sliced; 10 g sweet smoked paprika; 1 dried red chilli, whole; 30 ml extra virgin olive oil; 6 g dried mint and parsley

Rustic, high-fibre giant beans baked slowly with paprika and roasted peppers in an earthenware dish.

70 min 4 servings 99 kcal per serving

Ingredients

400 gdried giant tetovo beans, soaked overnight
2onions, finely chopped
2roasted red peppers, sliced
10 gsweet smoked paprika
1dried red chilli, whole
30 mlextra virgin olive oil
6 gdried mint and parsley

Method

01
Simmer the soaked beans in unsalted water for 45 minutes until tender but still holding shape; reserve a cup of cooking liquid.
02
Sweat the onions in olive oil over low heat until translucent and sweet, about 10 minutes.
03
Stir in the paprika off the heat so it blooms without scorching, then fold in the peppers.
04
Combine beans, onion mixture and enough cooking liquid to come just level with the beans in an earthenware dish.
05
Tuck in the chilli, scatter the dried herbs and bake at 200°C / 400°F for 25–30 minutes until the surface is burnished and the sauce thick.
06
Rest ten minutes before serving — the beans firm and the sauce settles.

Why this dish works

Tavče Gravče is built for 4 servings and lands at roughly 99 kcal per plate, with 19g protein, 52g carbohydrate and 11g fat across the recipe. It comes together in about 70 minutes using 7 whole-food ingredients — led by dried giant tetovo beans, soaked overnight, onions, finely chopped, roasted red peppers, sliced — so nothing here relies on packaged sauces, refined sugar or ultra-processed shortcuts. That balance is what keeps it a realistic weeknight option rather than a weekend project.

The main dish sits inside our North Macedonia collection and carries the Plant-Based, Gluten-Free, Anti-Inflammatory, Blood Pressure tags, so it slots straight into the Smart Recipe Finder when you filter by dietary focus or allergens. Scale the portions in the recipe drawer and the ingredient quantities and macros recalculate together; sync it to your shopping list and the pantry tracker subtracts what you already own before the list is generated.

Cooking and storing it well

Read the method through once before you start — the 6 steps are written in the order a working kitchen would run them, with prep that can overlap grouped together. Hands-free cook mode reads each step aloud and runs the timers, so your phone can stay on the counter. Season at the end rather than the beginning: salt, acid and good olive oil do more for the finished plate when they are adjusted against the cooked dish. Leftovers keep well chilled for two to three days in a sealed container; bring anything dressed or herb-heavy back to room temperature before serving so the aromatics come forward again.

Complete the meal