Gigantes Plaki: Traditional Greek Baked Giant Beans vs Biber Dolması (Stuffed Bell Peppers)

Both dishes build on onion, garlic, olive oil and tomato, but they put them to quite different work. Gigantes Plaki is baked: creamy giant beans sit in a tomato sauce softened with a touch of sugar and scented with bay leaf, dill and parsley, finishing with a slightly caramelized top. Biber Dolması is simmered in a covered pot, its bell peppers filled with browned ground meat, rice, tomato paste and chili flakes, while mint joins dill and parsley for a brighter, lightly spiced filling. One is spoonable and saucy; the other comes as soft, self-contained stuffed peppers.