Greek Recipes

In the lead up to Greek Easter, on Palm Sunday in fact, Mr K and I enjoyed lunch along with the rest of our extended family at my sister in law's parents house. Our host Mrs A, who is originally from Crete, is an incredible cook. The Palm Sunday table was absolutely heaving with what seemed like one hundred beautiful vegetarian and seafood dishes - including the traditional bakaliaros, skordalia, chargrilled octopus, stuffed mussels and more including some Cretan specialties that I had not tried before, such as calamari slow cooked with green olives, tomatoes and fennel. One of the absolute highlights on the table was, however, Mrs A divine Kalitsounia (καλιτσούνια). A small hand folded pie filled with wild greens and herbs - they were deceptively easy to eat!! Taking inspiration from Mrs A's kitchen, I recently tried my hand at making some cheese filled kalitsounia.  On our last visit to Crete, we tried some very savoury kalitsounia, stuffed with the local fresh mizithra and

There is something about cooking in clay, which just makes the food taste better. Cooking in an unglazed, organic clay pot creates an aroma that is both earthy and sort of smokey. Nearly all Greek and wider Mediterranean food was cooked, or stored in clay, in ancient times. I love the range and variety of clay pots that you can still buy in Greece today. Wide bellied pots for simmering tough cuts of meat and narrow necked pots for cooking beans and other legumes, are just a couple to choose from. Apart from the unique character and aroma of food cooked in clay, it also feels healthier - because you don't need to use much cooking fat at all. I've never had any issue of burning food in a clay pot either, because the clay pot heats up slowly and cooks the food more evenly.  This 'one pot' dish can be found in many regions of Greece and is particularly hearty in cooler weather. In many regions pasta would be added to the pot, to soak up all the cooking juices, instead of ch

The world knows Italy as the home of pasta, but it's origins stretch across the Mediterranean. In Greece, pasta also plays a starring role in the food culture, with significant regional diversity displayed in the variety of shapes and dishes on offer. This recipe is my twist on a traditional dish called 'Latzania' which comes from Astypalia - an island in the Dodecanese archipelago. Latzania are a cheese filled pasta and custom calls for them to be served on the last weekend before lent. The traditional shape of the Latzania is an unusual 'lolly wrapper/bow tie' style where the two ends are twisted. I opted to skip the large bow ties and went instead for a simple round shape. However, I've kept the traditional filling of goat cheese and saffron. Mizithra and saffron filled pasta in broth Ingredients For the pasta 3 - 3 & 1/2 cups of flour 2 large eggs 1/2 - 1 cup water For the filling 1 cup of well drained homemade mizithra cheese (see the recipe here ) 1/2