Beetroot Bake and Hummus Medley

Last night I made a nice dish that I am actually rather proud of. If you ever need to impress a vegetarian then this is definitely the one for it. 


Ingredients:


(For the bake)
1 beetroot cooked, peeled and sliced thinly
4 medium potatoes peeled, cooked and sliced thinly
3 large handfuls spinach
1 onion, finely chopped
5 eggs, beaten with a little water
handful of chopped chives, sage and parsley
Salt and pepper


(For the hummus)
1 cooked, peeled and chopped beetroot
1 tin chickpeas
3/4 a cup of olive oil
1/2 a cup lemon juice
3 tablespoons tahini paste
Handful of fresh, chopped coriander
Salt and pepper



Preheat the oven to around 200C. 

Fry the onion in a pan until light brown and soft, then leave aside in a bowl. Now fry the potato slices until golden brown and set aside. Finally, fry the spinach for around 30 seconds until it is just beginning to wilt.

In a small oven dish spread a little spinach and then begin to layer; a layer of beetroot, a layer of potato, a layer of spinach and so on. 


Mix the fried onion, herbs and some seasoning with the whisked eggs and then pour over the layered vegetables. Then place in the oven for around 30 minutes or until risen and golden. 


Meanwhile, whisk together all of the hummus ingredients and leave aside until the bake is done. Serve with some toasted pitta bread :) 

Roast dinner salad

Our Easter dinner was roast chicken and roast potatoes, which (as you can see in the photo) was a little too much for both of us. It was very easy, just drizzle a whole chicken in olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt. Cook in a hot oven, covered in foil for around 45 minutes. Then add some potatoes (pre-boiled for 5 minutes and then cut into thin wedges). Sprinkle with some pepper and any other spices you like (I like coriander seeds and some cumin). Cook for a further 30 minutes. 


This afternoon I turned the leftovers into a delicious summer salad and we ate it for lunch before heading back to the sunny beach. 


All you need to do for this simple salad is shred the leftover roast chicken into a large bowl, add the cold potatoes (cut into large chunks), add two chopped up tomatoes, a handful of chopped fresh basil, a small tin of sweetcorn and a ball of mozzarella ripped into small pieces. Then sprinkle with salt and pepper and Drizzle with a good glug of olive oil and a little thick balsamico. Et Voila! Fast lunch so that you can have more time to explore the beach :) 

Breaking the fast...on the French Riviera

This morning I woke up to the sunny French Riviera village of Eze. It is a beautiful place and the view over the sea from our apartment is incredible. After a short walk along the beach, it was time to break the Easter fast. I have very much enjoyed my time fasting, I have learnt new recipes and also feel very good. So I have decided to continue to fast from Monday-Thursday. Even my boyfriend (who is a lover of meat and milky tea) joined for the last week of fasting. 


The table was set outside on the balcony and then breakfast was laid; boiled eggs, smoked salmon, taramosalata, tomatoes, bread from here nearby and some red orange juice. Whilst here in Eze, I hope to update on some of the local delicacies I try and also on anything delightful that may be created here. Last night we had some beautiful octopus in a chilli and tomato sauce, which was given to us by the lady living above. She told us it was a sicilian recipe and it was gorgeous.  I will try and get the recipe and then post it on here :) 

Simple pasta for a beautiful day :)

So the weather has been perking up lately, this weekend we had some lovely weather. I wanted to do something simple and I think this pasta is perfect. I will keep it short because it is designed to be quick and so I don't want to take up to much of your precious time when the sun is shining :)


Ingredients:
- Pasta (Any kind you like)
- 1 onion finely chopped
- Large handful of spinach, washed a chopped roughly
- Large handful of sun-blushed tomatoes
- Small handful black olives chopped


Cook the pasta for 7-8 minutes over a medium heat. Meanwhile in a pan, fry the onions over a low heat until they are soft and lightly golden. 


When the pasta is done, drain the water and then place the pasta back in the saucepan. Add the cooked onions, olives, tomatoes, spinach and some salt and pepper. Drizzle with a good glug of olive oil, place a lid on top and leave for one minute while the spinach withers a little. 


Enjoy, wow! easy as that! 

Olive Tapenade Focaccia

Every weekend I go to buy olives from the market. It is hard to get good quality olives, but I am lucky that there is a wonderful middle eastern stall that has Kalamata olives that taste like I am in Cyprus. Though they are incredibly delicious, there are always some left over and I usually chop them up and add them to bread, pasta or risotto. Recently, I made this beautiful Olive Tapenade Focaccia bread. 


Ingredients: 


For the focaccia:
400g whole wheat flour
7g dried yeast
1/2 teaspoon raw cane sugar
275ml warm water
25ml olive oil
some semolina
pinch of fine sea salt and a pinch of coarse sea salt.


For the olive filling:
Large handful mixed and chopped olives
1 clove garlic
small glug of olive oil
handful fresh basil

Mix together the flour, yeast, fine salt and sugar together in a bowl and then gradually add the water and olive oil. 


Place the mixture on a surface covered with some semolina and knead for around 10-15 minutes. It should feel soft and not sticky, if needed add a little more flour or olive oil to get the right consistency. Roll into a ball and brush lightly with olive oil. Then place in a bowl, cover with cling-film and leave in a warm place for around 30 mins-1hr.


Meanwhile in a pestle and mortar, crush the garlic, chopped olives, olive oil and basil into a paste. After this time roughly roll the dough out and spread with the tapenade. 


Place on a backing tray, and then fold in half and shape into a circle. Cover with a tea towel and leave for a further 15 minutes. Heat the oven to 220°C.


After 15 minutes, poke indentations into the top of the bread and sprinkle with a little sea salt. Bake in the oven for around 20 minutes or until lightly golden. 

Giant beans in tomato sauce: Φασόλια Γίγαντες

In Greek cuisine we eat a lot of dishes that use legumes. For someone fasting at this time, they can supply a good alternative to meat and give an excellent supply of energy. Despite the fact that there are many things that are not allowed during the fasting period, I feel as though a whole new world of recipes has been opened up to me. In fact, I may go so far as to say that it is during this time that I have eaten the most delicious dishes, fresh, new and inspiring. 


This weekend I decided to make a rather famous Greek dish; giant beans in tomato sauce. It is such a comforting dish, the creamy butter beans in a wonderful rich tomato sauce, laced with fresh herbs and beautiful Mediterranean spices. To accompany them, I prepared some home-made flat garlic bread and this turned out to be a delightful combination. The fresh garlicky bread went perfectly with the zingy tomato based sauce. 


For the bread (makes 2 flat breads):
200g good quality flour
50g semolina
120ml lukewarm water
3.5g dried yeast
Half a teaspoon of raw cane sugar
6 cloves garlic 
50 ml olive oil
Ground black pepper


Mix the flour, semolina and salt together in a bowl. In another bowl mix the yeast, sugar and water together with a fork until the yeast dissolves. Pour the water slowly into the bowl of flour and bring the mixture together with a fork and then your hands. 


Knead the mixture on a surface lightly covered in semolina for around 10 minutes. It should feel soft and elastic, so feel free to add water or extra flour to get the right texture. Roll the dough into a ball, place in a bowl, cover with clingfilm and leave in a warm place for around 30 minutes.

Using a pestle and mortar, grind up the garlic cloves with the olive oil and some salt. Leave aside.


After 30 minutes, preheat the oven to 220°C and then split the dough ball in two and roll each half out into a large flat circle. Make some slits along the bread and the smother each flatbread with the garlic mixture. Sprinkle with black pepper.


Bake the flatbreads in the oven for about 20 minutes.


For the beans:
1 tin of butter beans (drained and washed)
1 onion
1 clove garlic 
2 tablespoons tomato puree
1 tin chopped tomatoes (or 5 fresh tomatoes peeled and chopped)
Handful of fresh flat leaf parsley
1 tablespoon oregano
Pinch of cinnamon
Salt and pepper to taste


Preheat the oven to 220°C.


In a pan fry the onions and garlic in some olive oil until soft and lightly browned. Then add the tomato puree and fry for a further minute. Now add the spices and the tomatoes, then finally the butter beans. Cook for 2 minutes over a medium heat.


Now pour everything into a small oven dish. Drizzle with olive oil and bake in the oven for around 20-30 minutes. They should be sizzling when you take them out of the oven. Add the parsley and another drizzle of olive oil and then set on the table to enjoy alongside some wonderful flat bread. 


This is great for lunch or dinner and can be warmed up the next day. If there is bread left over then just wrap it in some cling-film and it will stay soft. 

Hummus

Something that never fails to satisfy and is fast to make is hummus. Chickpeas are a good source of protein during the fasting period so stock up on this wonderful dip, which can be served with fresh bread or crudites.


Ingredients:

Tin of chickpeas
3 tablespoons tahini
juice of 1 lemon
half a cup of olive oil
2 tsp paprika
handful fresh coriander 
salt and pepper

Okay, now this might seem like a lot of work but...put everything into a blender and turn it on...


Blend until smooth and...serve.




Phew! What a lot of work :) 

Greek-Cypriot Easter (Forty days of fasting): Fagita Nistisima

It is time for the 40 day fast in Greek culture. It began on Monday and runs through until Easter. This is the first time I am fasting, more as a tribute to my grandparents and my heritage. When I was younger, I remember my 'great' yiayia (my dad's yiayia) fasting. She was a very special woman who lived a long, healthy and pure life; if I could strive to be like anyone then it would be her. 


So, it is no dairy and no meat or fish; the exception is that all shellfish are okay to eat. Over the next weeks I will be sharing some nice recipes that can be made whilst fasting. Sometimes it is difficult to know what to make and at first it seems like a mammoth chore, however there is an abundance of food available to you. In many ways, I use this as an opportunity to explore new recipes :) 


It is important to eat properly and ensure that you are still getting a good supply of protein and fat. Not all of these recipes will be Greek-Cypriot. They will be varied, to make fasting fun ;) 


On Tuesday it was my birthday and so it was interesting to try and find a delicious meal to cook for the celebrations. Indian cuisine is perfect for fasting in my opinion as they use a lot of coconut milk, lentils and filo pastry. Thus, please enjoy some prawn curry with chickpea rice, dahl and samosas...mmmmm.


Chickpea rice:


Fry 1 onion in a pan on a medium heat for around 5 minutes. Then add the rice (2 small handfuls per person) and fry for 1 minute. Now add around a litre of stock, one half first and then the rest as the rice absorbs it. Cook for 10 minutes until the water is all absorbed, drain and add the chickpeas and then put the lid on and leave aside. 


Dahl:


In a pan place 2 cups of mixed lentils (I use green and yellow but there are also dahl mixes available to buy). Add about a litre of water and boil rapidly for 5 minutes. Remove any scum from the surface and then turn the heat down to medium. Simmer for around 30-40 minutes until the lentils are soft and the water has been absorbed.


Peel and chop a tomato and wash and chop some spinach finely. Add them to the lentils along with 2 tsp cumin, 2 tsp turmeric and a teaspoon of stock powder. To serve, drizzle with a little olive oil, add a haldful of fresh chopped coriander and a little salt and pepper.


Cigar samosas:

Finely chop an onion, a carrot and a potato. Fry them in a pan with 2 tsp cumin, 1 tsp coriander seeds 1 tsp turmeric and some a hanful of frozen peas. When the vegetables have softened they are ready to be placed in some filo pastry. Lay out the filo sheet and add a spoon of the vegetables. Now fold the filo either into triangle shapes or long cigars. Brush with olive oil and bake in the oven at 220°C for around 20-30 minutes.

Lay everything on the table and enjoy this food with others. Enjoy the wonderful flavours!

Olive bread (ψωμί με ελιές)

You may have noticed that I already posted a recipe for olive bread and now I shall describe another, equally as delicious. This is a great bread for making on Sundays and enjoying with family. You can keep it and enjoy it in the week, I take it to work and enjoy it for my lunch. 


Olives are so wonderful and vital to our Greek-Cypriot diet; the flesh is eaten, the oil is spread, slurped or sizzled. Bread is also an important part of our culture, our food is all about sharing and this is the ultimate symbol of togetherness. 


Ingredients: 
Handful of chopped Kalamata olives
300g flour
7 grams yeast
4 tablespoons olive oil (olive oil) 
175ml warm water
1 and a half teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon raw cane sugar
A little more olive oil (good quality)


In a bowl, mix together the yeast, warm water, olive oil and sugar and leave for around 15-20 minutes. 


Add the salt and flour, slowly blending and then take out of the bowl and knead the dough for around ten minutes. Then roll into a medium ball and brush with a little olive oil. Place in a bowl and cover with a tea towel, then put in a warm place to rise for around 2 hours. 


After two hours take the dough and hit it a couple of times with your fist on a work-top. Preheat the oven to 220°C.


Now gradually fold in the olives until they are all within the dough. Mould it into a ball shape, brush with a little more olive oil and place on a greased baking sheet. Cover again with a tea-towel and leave it for another 30 minutes. 


Then uncover and mark some circles on the top with a sharp knife. Place the bread in the oven and bake for around 25 minutes. When it is done, leave it to cool and enjoy it dipped in some olive oil and balsamic vinegar. 

Traditional Greek Pasta Bake (Παστίτσιο)

Apparently this is what the crew eat on the Greek ships, so despite the fact (I've heard) that they do not have the greatest reputation for on-board safety, at least your last meal would be a good one. 

This is is the epitome of the Greek-Cypriot kitchen and you will find it at every festive celebration. The party just isn't complete without the μακαρόνια του φούρνου (makaronia tou fournou). Well, it's always there because yiayia has made it and you hope that there is some left because you can take it home and keep it in the freezer for you to enjoy all by yourself on one of those flake-out evenings. 

I have no doubt that this is one of the most famous recipes, lasagne loving Italians move out of the way because we Greeks also know a thing or two about pasta bakes ;) 

Half a pack of macaronia (we use long pasta tubes)

2 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons dried mint

half tsp ground cinammon

1/2 pack of halloumi cheese

350g pork mince

1 onion, finely chopped

1 tablespoon tomato puree

100ml white wine

1 tin of chopped tomatoes

For the bechamel:

3-4 glasses milk

3 tablespoons butter

3 tablespoons flour

3 eggs, beaten 

half teaspoon of nutmeg

salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 180°C

Heat some oil in a frying pan over a medium heat and add the onion, stir for a few minutes. Add the tomato puree and pork mince and cook for a further 5 minutes, until it has browned. Now add the wine and smell the lovely aroma as it sizzles. After a couple of minutes add the chopped tomatoes and continue to cook over a medium heat for about 5-10 more minutes. Turn it off and leave aside. 

Meanwhile boil the pasta for 8 minutes. Then drain and add the butter, mint and cinnamon. Stir well to ensure the pasta is covered. Now get a large baking dish and add a thin layer of the meat mixture, then a layer of pasta, then meat and so on until you run out of both. 


In a saucepan melt the butter over a low heat, then add the flour and stir with a whisk continuously. Slowly add the milk and keep stirring until, then the eggs (still stirring) until you form a thick bechamel sauce. The mixture should be thick and creamy, you can add more milk to make it thinner or more flour to thicken it. Stir in the nutmeg and season with salt and pepper. Now pour it over the top of the layers in the baking dish. 

Place into the oven and cook for around 40 minutes. When it is done, you can eat it immediately or leave it to cool and eat is as part of a midday lunch. It is delicious cold too! 

Olive bread (ελιόπιτα)

If there is one thing I am grateful for, being Greek, it is the olives... kalamata, stuffed, yiayia's own pressed olive oil from Cyprus, olive bread, olive pastries...



My favourite is this olive bread, it's not really a typical bread but a bit like a cake loaf. The aroma from the mint really gives it something special and it is so unlike the olive bread you can buy in a store. The texture is soft in the middle and the smell takes you to small village streets, ladies sitting outside their houses dressed all in black. 


Ingredients: 
1 onion chopped finely
2 handfuls of fresh chopped coriander
1 tablespoon dried mint
2 cups black olives, chopped
200ml olive oil
5 eggs
200ml milk
350g self raising flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt


Grease a cake tin and preheat the oven to 220°C


Beat together the eggs and the oil and then stir in the milk. Then slowly add the flour, salt and baking powder, beating all the time. 


Stir in the coriander, olives, onion and mint and mix it all together well. Now pour the mixture into the cake tin and pop it in the oven for about 45 minutes. When it is done, it should be golden brown and cooked in the middle. 

Leave it to cool and then serve in cake-like slices along with tzatziki or tahini and a big fat Greek salad.

Tava (Aρνί ταβάς)

This is a great dish for a Sunday afternoon when you have visitors. If your family are coming round, this is perfect as it is all in one dish and can go in the oven to cook while you tidy the house ;) 


Ingredients:


Shoulder lamb of about 1kg
1 kg of potatoes, cut into quarters
1 large onion, roughly chopped
1/2 cup of olive oil
large knob of butter
4 tomatoes, medium slices
1 table spoon of tomato puree
3 tablespoons coriander seeds
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
Sea salt and pepper


Handful of fresh coriander to garnish


Preheat oven to 160°C.


Mix together the olive oil and the herbs and spices. Put the lamb in a large oven dish and massage with half of the oil mixture. Then arrange the onion slices and potatoes around in the dish and then add the rest of the olive oil mix and give them a sprinkling of sea salt and pepper. 

Now add the tomato slices and dot small amounts of butter on the top and cover the dish with foil. Place it in the oven for around 3 hours (now go and relax!). After 3 hours, turn up the oven to about 180°C and cook for another hour. Finally, remove the foil and cook for another 30-40 minutes on 200°C.


The lamb should be browned, cooked through and soft enough to melt in the mouth. This dish will definitely impress at a Sunday family gathering. 


Put a big Greek salad on the table with this dish and enjoy with a well-deserved glass of wine. Bask in the complements!

Raviolia (Ραβιόλια)

This is a typical cypriot dish, perfect for an evening where time is short as these can be frozen and eaten at a later date. My yiayia makes these for my pappou at lunchtime and just the smell of the aromatic mint and halloumi takes me to the heart of Nicosia in the summer. Recently, I had one of those uneventful Sundays. There was some halloumi that my yiayia had bought me from Cyprus leftover and so decided to make some raviolia. In the cupboard I also have a stash of the most wonderful dried mint (also from my yiayia) and you really can smell the difference between that and the one from the supermarket...there is no comparison.

Ingredients: 

225g plan flour

2 tablespoons of olive oil

2 eggs

150g grated halloumi cheese

50ml warm water

1/2 teaspoon of salt

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

1/2 teaspoon ground cinammon

1 tablespoon dried mint

dash of pepper

You will also need a ravioli cutter or shaper.

In a bowl, mix together the flour, salt, oil and egg. Then add the water slowly and work the dough for around 5-10 minutes. The dough should be soft and not too sticky or too dry, if you need more water or flour then add it. Set it aside, covered with clingfilm and leave it for about half an hour.

For the filling, mix together the other egg, the halloumi and the spices and herbs.

Roll half of the the pastry out thinly and lay either on a floured surface or on to a ravioli shaper. If you doo not have a shaper then mark out regular squares of about 2x2cm. Place a spoon of the filling in the middle of each ravioli and then cover with a second thin layer of the pastry. Cut out the ravioli shapes and set them onto a plate.

When you have used up all of the pastry and filling, leave the raviolia for about half an hour. Afterwards, you can either cook them, boiling for about 10-15 minutes or freeze them. If you decide to freeze them then arrange them in layers with clingfilm in-between each layer so that they do not stick.

I like to eat them plain, with a drizzle of olive oil or in some vegetable stock. I also like to make a thick spicy tomato sauce and spoon it over the top.

This is what we eat when we are in Cyprus and are too tired to go out to eat. There is always a supply of them in the freezer and they are so quick to just throw in the pan. But more importantly...they are delicious ;)