Welcome to the column to go to when you’re a broke, tired college student in a dorm. Today, I wanted to cover Macedonia’s national dish: Travce Gravce. This is another dish I’ve made in my personal journey with food. It’s relatively simple and will probably remind you of another dish that’s close to home in the Appalachian South, namely BBQ Baked Beans. It’s also vegan unless you want to pair it up with a sausage of sorts.

Photo of Tavce Gravce, (Contributed/mynomaddiction.com)

What you’ll need for the recipe is: one pound of (soaked overnight) great white northern beans, two cups tomato sauce, four tablespoons sunflower oil, four smashed or minced cloves of garlic, one sliced onion, one sliced bell pepper, one cube of vegetable bouillon, two dried chilies, salt, pepper, paprika, cumin, parsley and two bay leaves.

First, you’ll need to drain your soaked beans, and bring them to a roaring boil for 15 minutes. Drain the beans again, and set to the side.

In a pot, put in three tablespoons of your sunflower oil. Sauté your onions and bell peppers until the onions are translucent. You’ll then add your minced garlic and sauté another minute. Season and stir your mix of veggies. Then, add your bay leaves, bouillon, and chiles. Place your beans back in the pan and cover with water. Cook for 30 minutes on medium heat, then cook for another 30 minutes on low heat.

Preheat your oven to 210 F while your vegetable mix is cooking on the stove. Oil a lasagna pan with the remaining tablespoon of sunflower oil. Drain your beans, though you’ll need to leave some of the broth in. Add the beans to the pan, along with two cups of tomato sauce.

Then, cover the lasagna pan with foil and cook in the oven for three hours.

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