020Peas braised with dill and potato

Method

Classic home-style braise with potatoes and carrots. Serve warm or at room temperature with plenty of crusty sourdough bread to mop up the rich olive oil sauce.

You will need

• wide heavy-bottomed saucepan or shallow casserole with lid
• wooden spoon

1. Warm 60 ml of the olive oil in a wide, heavy saucepan over medium heat, add the onion and carrots, and cook for six minutes until the onion is soft and translucent. 6 min Ready when: onions translucent and fragrant
2. Add the sliced garlic and tomato paste, stirring constantly for one minute until the paste darkens and releases its aroma. 1 min Ready when: tomato paste deeply coloured and fragrant
3. Add the potato chunks, peas, tinned chopped tomatoes, sugar, salt, black pepper, and 250 ml of hot water, gently stirring to combine. 3 min Ready when: vegetables evenly submerged in liquid
4. Bring to a vigorous boil, then reduce the heat to medium-low, cover with the lid, and simmer gently for twenty-five minutes until the potatoes are tender when pierced with a fork. 25 min Ready when: potatoes knife-tender
5. Uncover the pan, stir in the remaining 40 ml olive oil and the chopped dill, and simmer uncovered for five minutes so the sauce reduces until the oil separates and glistens. 5 min Ready when: sauce thickened with visible shimmering olive oil
6. Take the pan off the heat and let the braise settle for at least ten minutes before dishing up, allowing the potatoes to drink in the savoury sauce. 10 min Ready when: sauce thick and settled

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Make ahead and storing

Like most ladera, it tastes significantly better the following day after the sweet vegetables have infused the sauce.

Store in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. Reheat gently on the stovetop or eat at ambient temperature.

Substitutions

• fresh ripe grated tomatoes for tinned chopped tomatoes. In summer, replace tinned tomatoes with 400 g of ripe, coarsely grated beef tomatoes.

Common mistakes

• Adding too much water and boiling covered throughout. A Greek ladero must reduce down to its oil; excess liquid dilutes flavour and leaves a thin, watery broth instead of a glossy sauce.
• Skimping on the olive oil. Olive oil is not merely a cooking fat here but the body of the sauce itself, lending richness and texture.

Regional variants

• In the Peloponnese and Crete, artichoke hearts are frequently simmered alongside the peas in early spring.
• Some island cooks omit the tomato entirely, preparing a lemon-dill braise (arakas lemonatos).

About the dish

Arakas laderos is a foundational dish within the Greek culinary canon of ladera, where seasonal vegetables are gently stewed in a generous bath of olive oil, sweet aromatics, and tomato until left purely with their oil (me to ladi tou). Fresh peas were historically celebrated throughout late spring, though the convenience of frozen peas has made it an indispensable, year-round midweek staple across the country. Carrots and potatoes are standard companions, providing natural sweetness and starch that lightly thickens the rich tomato reduction.

Found in all of Greece. Cooked for everyday, lent, summer, spring.

Cousins elsewhere

• Zeytinyağlı bezelye (Turkish). A parallel olive oil braise of peas, potatoes, and carrots, often cooked with a little sugar and served chilled or at room temperature.

Nutrition per serving (estimate)

451 kcal · protein 11.9 g · fat 24 g (saturated 3.4 g) · carbohydrate 50.4 g (sugars 16.2 g) · fibre 13.7 g · sodium 633 mg

An estimate (summed from ingredient estimates) that varies with the exact ingredients. It is not dietary advice.

Written fresh by Epikouria editors from general culinary tradition. Recipe by the Epikouria editors. Classic mainland home-style braise adhering strictly to the ladera technique of stewing vegetables to their oil..

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