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. 

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.