Τυρενια Μακαρονια με Λιαστες Ντοματες και Ελιες - Healthier Macaroni Cheese with Sundried Tomatoes and Olives #vimagourmetfoodblogawards #madewithAB #vimagourmet

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Τώρα που έχει κρυώσει λιγάκι ο καιρός είναι ευκαιρία να φτιάξω το αγαπημένο μου φαγητό. Macaroni Cheese με πλούσια τυρένια σάλτσα, λιαστές ντομάτες και ελιές.  Η μεσογειακή εκδοχή του κλασικού comfort food.

Κοτόπουλο με Σάλτσα Εσπεριδοειδών #vimagourmetfoodblogawards #madewithAB

Μπήκε και ο Νοέμβριος. Αρχίσαν τα κρύα, οι βροχές και... τα κρυώματα! Πέρυσι την έβγαλα καθαρή. Ούτε ένα κρύωμα, ούτε μια ίωση. Αλλά φέτος φαίνεται δεν θα έχω την ίδια τύχη. Ήδη μετράω ένα και αισθάνομαι ότι έρχεται και δεύτερο. 

Το καλύτερο γιατρικό νομίζω ότι το ξέρετε όλοι. Βιταμίνη C και ζεστή κοτόσουπα! Αλλά με τέτοιο ήλιο εκεί έξω δεν μου πάει καρδιά να φτιάξω σούπα. Όχι ακόμα. Το πνεύμα μου αντιστέκεται σθεναρά στον ερχομό του χειμώνα αν και το σώμα εμφανώς ασθενεί. 

Από την κοτόσουπα λοιπόν κράτησα μόνο το κοτόπουλο και το ρύζι, πρόσθεσα φρέσκο χυμό πορτοκαλιού, μυρωδικά, κρεμμύδι και μουστάρδα και έφτιαξα ένα ηλιόλουστο, θρεπτικό φαγάκι.

Γεμιστά με Κιμά, Μπέικον και Μυρωδικά - Stuffed Summer Vegetables with Beef, Bacon and Fresh Herbs

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Ψάχνω για δουλειά εδώ και 9 μήνες, από τη μέρα σχεδόν που επέστρεψα στην Ελλάδα, και φυσικά δεν βρίσκω τίποτα. Μέχρι πριν από 3 βδομάδες που βρήκα κάτι, πιο temp δεν γίνεται. Δεν το απέρριψα όμως. Ακόμα και αυτό ήταν καλύτερο από το τίποτα. 

Ξεκίνησα λοιπόν Δευτέρα πρωί να πάω στο γραφείο και όταν τελείωσα το απόγευμα και γύρισα σπίτι, κουρασμένη, με πονοκέφαλο αλλά τόσο χαρούμενη που μετά από τόσο καιρό βρέθηκα ξανά να κάνω κάτι συνειδητοποίησα ότι δεν είχα σκεφτεί το πιο σημαντικό πράγμα.

Τι να μαγειρέψω...

Λαζάνια με Κιμά και Μανιτάρια Χωρίς Γλουτένη - Gluten Free Beef and Mushroom Lasagne

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Πως περνάει έτσι ο καιρός! Να που μπήκε και το καλοκαίρι. Έχει ζεστάνει αρκετά και σε λίγο θα κολυμπάμε στις θάλασσες, αν και μερικοί έχουν κάνει ήδη τα πρώτα μπάνια τους. Όπως για παράδειγμα ο αντρούλης μου το περασμένο Σάββατο. 

Εγώ βέβαια δεν τόλμησα να μπω.

Ντοματοσουπα με Τραχανα - Trahana Tomato Soup

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Τι είναι αυτό που έχω πάθει με τον τραχανά τώρα τελευταία;

Σχεδόν κάθε φαγητό που μαγειρεύω πρέπει να έχει έστω και λίγο. Μου έλειψε πολύ τόσα χρόνια που έλειπα και τώρα που τον βρήκα ξανά σε αφθονία λέω να τον χορτάσω όσο πιο πολύ μπορώ. Τα ντουλάπια μου δεν κλείνουν πια

Ταρτα με Αγκινάρες και Λουκάνικο - Artichoke Sausage Tart

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Το προηγούμενο Σάββατο έγινε της αγκινάρας στην κουζίνα μου. Τις βρήκα την Παρασκευή στην λαϊκή, πράσινες και τρυφερές, μικρά μεταμοντέρνα μπουκετάκια έτοιμα να τα πάρω σπίτι για να δοκιμάσω την τύχη μου στο καθαρισμά τους. 

Celery Root Soup with Curried Apples ~ Σουπα Σελινοριζας με Μηλο και Καρυ

(Συνταγή στα Ελληνικά στο τέλος της σελίδας)

Celery root, is definitely not a charmer. It is bulky, sometimes hairy, with strange root tentacles coming out of its many nooks and crannies. Makes you wonder how on earth you're going to peel it and if is, actually, worth your effort.

Chickpea Spinach Stew - Ρεβιθάδα με Σπανάκι

(Συνταγή στα Ελληνικά στο τέλος της σελίδας)

My love for chickpeas is very well documented on this blog. Just take a look in my recipe list and you will find recipes featuring chickpeas in many forms and shapes, like the deliciously creamy Hummus or the spicy Chickpea Curry and off course my favourite Socca made from chickpea flour!

Gnudi with Butter and Thyme / Νουντι με Βουτυρο και Θυμαρι

(Συνταγή στα Ελληνικά στο τέλος της σελίδας)

Have you met Gnudi? Do you know what it is? Do you know that when you meet and eat it you will never want to go back to a gnudi-less life? I never forget the first time I experience the taste of something new. The subtle apprehension and eagerness before the first bite

Pumpkin & Clementine Soup / Σούπα με Κολοκύθα και Μανταρίνι

I woke up this morning with "Let it Snow" playing in my head.
You know the song, it goes like this...

"Oh the weather outside is frightful..
 But the fire is so delightful"

Well, the weather outside is definitely not frightful.

Caramelised Onion & Goat Cheese Pie / Πίτα με Καραμελωμένα Κρεμμύδια και Κατσικίσιο Τυρί

(Συνταγή στα Ελληνικά στο τέλος της σελίδας)

For my first post in over 3 months you would imagine that I would be bursting with words. Words about my last weeks in Croatia, our cruise along the beautiful Dalmatian coast and our road trip to Athens. And then about our search for an apartment and the whole process of moving in and trying to turn it into a home.   

Spinach Rice {Spanakorizo} - Σπανακόρυζο

(Συνταγή στη Ελληνικά στο τέλος της σελίδας)

When life gives you spinach make...Spanakorizo!

I blame today's recipe on a half-hearted and ultimately failed attempt to do a 3-day juice cleanse. Blame is a harsh word because I enjoyed this simple and very healthy dish very much.. But let me explain... Early Monday morning, that damned day when all diets that are doomed to fail start, found me at the farmer's market buying bucketfuls of spinach, apples, celery, carrots, beets, all in hope that I will be able to complete said 3-day juice cleanse. I juiced and blended for 2 hours but by the time lunchtime came I had already given up. The apples and the carrots could wait but the spinach could not. Something had to be done to lessen my quilt and to utilise that bucketful of the beautiful organic spinach I had in my fridge.

Quiche Maraîchère #FrenchFridayswithDorie

Quiche and I go way back. It was the first "gourmet" recipe I ever cooked for a boy. A rich, eggy Quiche Lorraine with a green salad on the side and a bottle of white wine was the romantic dinner I had planed for us. The quiche turned out great; its smell divine; but the boyfriend never turned up to eat it! He stood me and my quiche up and I blamed the quiche for that. Don't ask me why. There is no way to even begin to decipher the machinations of my 18 year old mind. I just know that I tossed it in the garbage bin, took the wine and left town. OK I am being somewhat dramatic here but I did leave town to go to our beach house and nurse my broken heart well and I did throw the quiche away without even tasting it!  

Fortunately this catastrophic first encounter was not enough to make me hate quiche. That would have been a blasphemy for a foodie like me because it is an incredibly flavourful savoury pastry. Incredibly flavourful and incredibly rich with a savoury custard made from eggs and cheese poured over ham, seafood or vegetables enclosed in a crispy shell of shortcrust pastry. In an ideal world I could eat quiche everyday. 

Now after so many years, quiche has became synonymous with pick-nicks at the park and dinner parties with good friends. And it is not so difficult to make, as my 18-year-old self wanted me to believe. The only part that needs some attention is the preparation of the shortcrust pastry or Pâte Brisée. And that is only for the first couple of times, because once you get the hang of mixing flour and butter with your fingers and kneading it gently to become a soft dough there is nothing really to stop you from making quiche everyday, except maybe your cholesterol. Yes, the sad, sad truth is that a true quiche carries MANY calories between its crispy bottom and its creamy filling. There are at least 3 eggs and loads of heavy cream and even more cheese (Gruyère or Comté) so, um.. yeah.. it is not an everyday indulgence. Unless of course you are French and come with a built-in mechanism that stops you eating when you have reached the minimum daily allowance of calories - in this case after the second forkful. 

 

So yes, this week's recipe for our French Fridays with Dorie cooking group is a quiche. But the Quiche Maraîchère (p.158), is not a typical quiche. It is a vegetable quiche or to be more precise a quiche overflowing with vegetables. It has leeks, celery and red peppers but it doesn't have so much custard. I could say that it is a "lighter" version of the original. 

I made my version of Dorie's quiche even lighter, using almond milk instead of heavy cream and skipping the cheese completely (I just grated a small piece of  Kasseri on the baked quiches to make them look nicer for the photo). 

Instead of making Pâte Brisée for the tart shell, I used some left-over flan pastry or pâte à foncer I had in the freezer. It was enough to make one 20cm tart and 3 baby tarts. Pâte à foncer is less delicate than pâte brisée but has a crisper texture. 

I filled the baby quiches with a few teaspoons of the quiche filling, after I had it fried in a pan like a mini omelette.

I have to admit that I was a little sceptical about the presence of the celery in the vegetable filling. Leeks and peppers are both very acceptable quiche ingredients but I have categorised celery as a soup vegetable. I know it is completely arbitrary and makes no sense because celery goes pretty much with everything but well there you have it. 

I was wrong, off course,  because celery worked amazing with the other two to give an extra savouriness to the quiches. 

The recipe was a huge success. Even in its "lighter" version it was full of flavour and lovely textures. You can find Dorie's original recipe for Quiche Maraîchère at Bookpage and to check how my fellow Doristas liked this recipe click here.

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Quiche Maraîchère 

Adapted from "Around My French Table: More Than 300 Recipes from My Home to Yours" by Dorie Greenspan
Serves 6 

Ingredients for the flan pastry - pâte à foncer -  (makes about 2, 20cm tart shells)
250 gr flour
125 gr butter, at room temperature, slightly softened and cut into small pieces
1 egg, at room temperature
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
40 ml cold water
Ingredients for the quiche filling
1 tablespoons olive oil
2 celery stalks, cut into small pieces
1 leek, thinly sliced, only the white and light green parts
1/2 red pepper, or 1 if it is small, cored, seeded and finely diced
2/3 cup almond milk
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
50 gr cheese, grated

Instructions
Preheat oven to 190C/370F.

Lightly grease a 20 cm tart pan (fluted or straight).

Put the flour on the work surface. Make it look like a mountain and then make a well in the centre. Put the  butter, egg, sugar and salt in the well and start creaming them with your fingertips.

Little by little pull the flour into the well and work the dough until it becomes grainy in texture. Add the cold water, little by little, until the dough starts to hold together.

Knead the dough gently until it becomes smooth. Roll the pastry into a ball and wrap it with cling film. Put it in the fridge to rest for 30 minutes or until you are ready to use it.

When you are ready to use it, roll it with a lightly floured rolling pin (I used the plastic rolling pin I use to roll out fondant from Wilton), on a lightly floured surface, to a 3 mm thickness. Make sure that you turn it over frequently. You might have to re-flour the surface.

Transfer the dough to the tart pan and ease it in. Trim off any excess pastry with a knife or by rolling the pin over the tin. Prick the pastry with a fork in several places. Chill the dough in the fridge before baking it for at least 1 hour.

Line the tart pan with baking paper and fill it with ceramic baking beans to weight the pasty down so that it doesn't rise.

Bake blind for 20 minutes. Remove the beans and the paper and return the tart to the oven to bake for another 5 minutes. Allow the tart shell to cool before you fill it.

Heat the oil in a medium pan. Add the vegetables and cook stirring for about 10 minutes until they are tender. Season and put them into a bowl to cool.

Preheat the oven to 200C/400F and put the half baked tart shell on a baking sheet lined with baking paper. Spread the cooked vegetables into the tart shell.

Whisk the egg and egg yolk with the milk, season them and pour them carefully over the vegetables. Be careful not to put too much custard. Let it stand for a few minutes and then see if you can add a little more.

Slide the filled tart onto the baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes until it is baked and set.

Transfer the quiche to a rack and let it cool before you serve it.

Cook's Notes:

• The pâte à foncer pasttry can be kept, wrapped with cling film, in the fridge for a week or in the freezer for up to 3 months.

• If you want to make the baby quiches use small tart moulds (around 4 - 6 cm). Butter them very well and line them with dough. Prick them with a fork. Chill them for at least 1 hour. Carefully line them with parchment paper and fill them with rice before you bake them. Bake them for 15 minutes, remove the paper and rice and bake them again for 5 - 10 minutes until they are golden and fully baked. 
• To fill the baby quiches: Cook the quiche filling in a frying pan. Let it cool and then fill the baby tart shells with one or two teaspoons of the filling and grate some cheese over them.

• If you don't have ceramic baking beans you can use different types of pulses (dried white beans, rise).

• If you use beans or rice you will not be able to cook them after but you can use them for baking for a long time.

Sausage - Stuffed Chicken #FrechFridayswithDorie

Is there anything better than a juicy, tasty, roasted chicken for Sunday lunch? 

Yes! There is!

A juicy, tasty, STUFFED chicken! And some potatoes au gratin for a side!

This my friends is not any old stuffed chicken. I made it using Dorie Greenspan's Sausage-Stuffed Cornish Hens, our French Fridays with Dorie recipe for this week. Unfortunately, I could not find Cornish Hens so I stuffed a chicken with the most amazing white sausage and herb stuffing. 

But let's talk about the bird first. I had never heard of Cornish Hens before reading this recipe. And then after I read it, I thought that they must be some ultra small and fancy game birds, like quail or pheasant, that roam the English countryside. In any case something that I would never be able to find in the humble Zagreb butcher shops. As it turns out Cornish Hens are not that fancy, wild nor elusive, and are not from Cornwall - at least not entirely!  They are just a breed of chicken. A cross between the Cornish and the Rock Hens. 

Nothing fancy here but they are, indeed, smaller, have more white meat and cook faster than your everyday chicken. 

And as I had expected I was not able to find them or anything like them in the market here. But I did not despair. I chose a nice free-range chicken from my chicken lady at the market, stuffed it and put it in the oven. 

I tweaked Dorie's recipe quite a bit, again, to serve our dietary preferences - see gluten and lactose free. So no butter and instead of normal bread I used a few leftover pieces from the Gluten Free Spring Herb Buns I made earlier this week. And that's when I got the idea to add a lot more fresh herbs and spring onions to the stuffing. 

Herbs in the bread and herbs in the stuffing. Genius! 

The stuffing came out just amazing. Moist, rich in flavour and so very fragrant! From now on this is going to be my go-to recipe for every time I need to stuff a chicken!

As for the Potato Gratin, it is yet another favourite from Jamie Oliver's 15 Minute Meals. Seriously tasty and so easy and quick to make! 

Have I told you how much I love this cook book? I have? Well I am going to say again... 

I just love it and I have already made all the recipes in it. Most of them are gluten free, so no extra effort is needed from my part to adapt them and are so quick to prepare. But the most important trait of these recipes and Jamie Oliver's cooking at the moment, is that they are so extremely flavourful without the need to add a lot of fat or processed food ingredients. Just use lots of fresh herbs and spices and the result will be extraordinarily powerful. 

Like these potato gratin. Made in under 15 minutes and flavoured with fresh sage, chives an onions. 

To see how my fellow Doristas liked this recipe, or to join our little online cooking group, please click here.

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Sausage Stuffed Whole Roasted Chicken

Adapted from "Around My French Table: More Than 300 Recipes from My Home to Yours" by Dorie Greenspan

Serves 6

Ingredients

1 whole chicken

1 onion, chopped

400gr white sausages, casings removed and chopped finely in a food processor

1/2 stale gluten free fresh herb bun or any 2 slices of other gluten free bread

1 large egg

1 cup mixed fresh herbs (dill, mint, spring onions, parsley, basil), chopped

1/2 cup dry white wine like a Viogner

Salt and pepper

Olive oil

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400F/200C degrees.

Heat 2 teaspoons of olive oil in a big oven going skillet or pan over medium heat. Sauté the onion for about 2 minutes. Add the sausage and cook for 5 minutes, breaking up any lumbs that might form. Remove from the heat and let it cool.

In a medium bowl, beat the egg and herbs. Season and add the bread. Mix everything very well and add the sausage from the skillet.

Wash and pat the chicken dry with some paper towels. Salt and pepper the insides of the chicken and spoon in the stuffing. Don't over-stuff the chicken. If you have any left over stuffing, sauté in a pan over medium heat for 5 - 10 minutes until the sausage is fully cooked.

Rub the chicken with olive oil and sprinkle some salt and pepper. Put in the ovenproof skillet, add a cup of water, cover with foil and put it the oven.

Roast the chicken for at least 50 minutes, checking it regularly and basting it with its juices. The chicken is ready when the juices run clear if you prick the thigh at the thicket part.

When the chicken is ready, move it to a serving dish. Put the skillet over high heat and when the juices start to bubble pour in the wine. Let is boil away until the liquid is reduced by half. Pull the pan from the heat and strain the juices. Serve the chicken with the sauce.

Potato Gratin

Recipe from "Jamie's 15-Minute Meals" by Jamie Oliver

Serves 4

Ingredients

800gr (1.7 pounds) potatoes, peeled

3 onions, peeled

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 chicken stock cube

1/2 a bunch of fresh sage

1 tablespoon chopped chives

100ml soja cream

30gr Grana Padano cheese, grated

Instructions

Slice the potatoes in the food processor, using the fine slicer tool, or with a mandolin. Put them in a medium pan with boiling water and cover them with the lid. Boil for about 10 minutes, until they cook but still hold their shape.

Slice the onion in the food processor, using the fine slicer tool. Put the in a pan with 2 tablespoons of olive oil, crumble in the stock and season with salt and pepper. Tear in the sage leaves and sauté until they become translucent, adding some water if needed.

When the onions are ready, tip them into a large roasting pan. Drain the potatoes well and arrange them in a flat layer over the onions. Check and adjust the seasoning. Pour in the soja cream and sprinkle the cheese over.

Put the tray under a hot grill for a few minutes until the top starts to brown.

Cheesy Mushroom & Goat Cheese Pasta #FrenchFridayswithDorie

Hello my dear Doristas! I am back! It's been a while and I missed cooking from our favourite cookbook. I missed so many delicious recipes that our lovely online cooking community has been making and posting every Friday but I will make it up. I promise!

I am so happy that I decided to come back now! Today's recipe is such a treat! Dorie calls it a "Dressy Pasta Risotto" because it is "quick to make, yet chic enough to be served at a fancy dinner party". And even though she calls it a risotto her recipe has nothing to do with rice. It is pasta in a very creamy, delectably cheesy sauce.

Dorie uses butter to slowly sauté one chopped onion, which together with the pasta will boil into the chicken  stock. Then when the pasta is ready and the water almost gone from the pot she adds cream and mascarpone cheese and parmesan. The result is undeniably the most elegant macaroni cheese ever created! Almost like a risotto but not really...

I, of course,  went a bit rogue on this recipe again. Inspired by the "risotto" part of the recipe title I decided to use rice pasta instead of regular pasta. And also because in that way it would be gluten free and George and I would be able to enjoy it without too much guilt - there were very little I could do about the lactose free requirement of our diet so I used lactose free cream and goat cheese but I just could not  stop myself from adding in those tablespoons of mascarpone!! One thing I followed faithfully, was Dorie's suggestion that "it should be generously peppered". Oh my! It was so good! The sweetness of crushed red peppercorns and the spiciness of the green ones really elevated the taste!

Oh yes! It was definitely a good choice to come back to cooking with my online friends today!

To see how my fellow Doristas liked this recipe click here!

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Cheesy Mushroom & Coat Cheese Pasta

Adapted from "Around my French Table" by Dorie Greenspan

Serves 2 as a main or 4 as a side dish

Ingredients

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 onion, finely chopped

3 cups of chicken stock

250 gr rice pasta 

1 pinch dried mushrooms, about 3 - 4 mushrooms

50 gr hard goat cheese, grated

1/2 cup lactose free cream, like soy cream

3 tablespoons mascarpone

Red and green crushed peppercorns

Instructions

Preheat your oven to 180C/350F.

Heat the oil over medium heat in a large saucepan. Add the onion and season. Sauté stirring regularly until it is golden. 

Add the chicken stock and bring to a boil. Add the pasta and let it cook until it absorbs almost of the liquid. You might need to add more depending on the type of pasta you use. 

While you cook the pasta, pour the cream and 2 tablespoons of water into a small pan an add the dried mushrooms and fresh thyme. Bring to a boil and then remove it from heat, cover and let the cream infuse until the pasta is ready. 

When the pasta is ready pour in the cream and mushrooms, let boil for about 2 minutes, add the mascarpone, stir it around until it melts into the pasta and then put the pasta in an oven proof baking dish. Sprinkle with the goat cheese and a pinch of peppercorns and put it in the oven. Bake for no more than 10 minutes or until the cheese melts and takes a golden colour. 

Let it stand for 5 minutes and then serve. Enjoy!

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Linking up to:

The Best of the Weekend

Serenity Now
Foodie Friday

Pumpkin, Mint & Feta Cheese Pie ~ Κολοκυθόπιτα με Φέτα και Δυόσμο

(Συνταγή στα Ελληνικά στο τέλος της σελίδας)

Hello from the unseasonably warm Athens, the city where for the next 6 months I will be sniffing, slurping and spitting fermented grape juice and other noble spirits.

It's been a pretty busy couple of weeks, travelling from Zagreb to Madrid, back to Zagreb, then to Belgrade and finally reaching Athens on the worst week possible, for someone who's been away from this behemoth of a city for years! The media call it "Black Week", "the Mother of all Strikes" since everybody is on strike, protesting against the government's "newest collection" of austerity measures. This blog has many sides and interests; talking about politics is not one of them. So I will spare you the political analysis of the government's decisions and their effect on the social structure of the Greek society mambo jumbo and instead I will talk about MY thoughts and experiences of the past two weeks. 

I did get a small taste of the "Athens-jungle, pre-demonstration traffic-jam" yesterday which was more than enough to make me decide to abandon any attempt to go to the centre of Athens and stay put at the leafy suburb of Psychiko, where my new humble adobe is located.  

For a few weeks now I have posted about books, travel memories and  photographs, even about a non-existent ashtray... Everything was on my blogging menu except for food. To be more accurate, food that I cooked by myself, because there has been plenty of food around that eventually found it's way to my stomach and ultimately my thighs. Yet I refused to go to the gym and I refused to cook. The gym was because "I was separating " from my life in Zagreb so that the transition to Athens would be as smooth as possible (fat chance with all the strikes - but I did manage to visit two gyms today and I have to decide which one I'm going to join). I was somewhat accepting towards the gym-truancy but what about my cooking abstinence?  I used to think that cooking relaxes me. I have now come to believe that I was way wrong about this. Yes, cooking is a joyful, exciting and creative, but I came to think that I can only perform when I'm not in such a stressful situation as I have been in the weeks leading to my "relocation" to Athens. I lived on nuts and cheese and rice cakes during those weeks...so yes cooking is not my forte when I'm experiencing periods of upheaval in my life....

Having said all these, I am now ready to move on to today's recipe of a very Greek version of savoury pumpkin pie, which I did not make but I surely ate and enjoyed, especially after being on the road for a total of 7 1/2 hours .

We arrive home and up there on the stove stood the most scrumptious pumpkin pie I have ever seen in my life! Orange with specks of white feta cheese covered with crispy pastry. I was transfixed!!! I had to fight the urge to ignore everything and everyone and shove a fork into that baby ASAP. But I am girl with manners and I waited patiently, stealing glances at the beckoning pie, until the whole family gathered around the table for a pretty late dinner celebrating our arrival. 

The pumpkin, sacrificed to make this masterpiece had travelled almost the same distance as  we. It came from the vegetable garden of Vasilka's father in the Bulgarian village of Shtit (Vasilka has been the housekeeper for years and she is practically part of the family). The pie was inspired and prepared by my mother in law, who is an amazing woman with a natural talent for cooking (among other things) and a huge repertoire of delicious sweet and savoury recipes, many of which I will be sharing with you in due time!!! Even though this pie contains gluten from the fillo pastry, it is completely egg-free and is very low on lactose (cheese made from sheep and goat milk has a lot less lactose than cow's cheese). It combines the sweetness of the pumpkin with the saltiness and spiciness of both types of cheese and the spearmint, it might sound strange but this is the special ingredient that makes this simple pumpkin pie into an extraordinary, culinary masterpiece!

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Pumpkin, Mint & Feta Cheese Pie

Serves 8

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 kg pumpkin flesh, boiled and let to drain for 6 hours
• 500 gr feta cheese, crumbled
• 300 gr graviera cheese or any other hard, spicy cheese made from sheep's milk, crumbled
• 2 - 3 tablespoons fresh mint or spearermint, chopped
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 5 spring onions, finely chopped
• 6 sheets of fillo pastry
• Olive oil for brushing the pastry

Procedure

1. Clean and de-seed a pumpkin large enough to yield about 1.5 kg of flesh. Boil the flesh in as much water as it takes to just cover it, for as long as it takes so that a fork can easily separate the flesh and then strain it in a colander or cheesecloth for at least 6 hours. It is it better to do the straining overnight to save time during the day.
2. Preheat oven to 180 C.
3. In a large pot, heat the olive oil and sauté the spring onions for 3 - 4 minutes. Add the strained pumpkin flesh and stir well. Add the cheeses and mint, remove from heat and stir. 
4. Brush a non-stick baking pan with olive oil, lay the first fillo and brush it with olive oil, then lay the second, brush this one as well and finally lay the third. Pour the pumpkin - cheese mixture onto the fillo and smooth it evenly. Place a fillo sheet on top, brush it with olive oil, and repeat with the remaining two sheets. Sprinkle the last one with a little bit of water and drizzle with olive oil. I suggest that you cut the pie in pieces before you put it in the oven - this will make it easier to serve once baked.
5. Bake this marvellous pumpkin pie for 45 minutes until the pastry becomes crispy and golden. 

I suggest that you share it with other people but, really, I will understand if you want to eat it all by yourself. 

Vasilka told me that, back when she was a small girl, living in her village, her father had too many pumpkins and those they couldn't use, gave to their donkey as a treat - lucky, lucky donkey 'cause this was the sweetest pumpkin I had in years!

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Πίτα με Κολοκύθα, Δυόσμο και Φέτα 

Για 8 άτομα

Υλικά

• 1 1/2 κιλό κολοκύθα, βρασμένη και στραγγισμένη για τουλάχιστον 6 ώρες
• 500 γρ φέτα, τριμμένη
• 300 γρ γραβιέρα τριμμένη
• 2 - 3 κουταλιές της σούπας φρέσκο δυόσμο ψιλοκομμένο
• 2 κουταλιές της σούπας ελαιόλαδο
• 5 φρέσκα κρεμμυδάκια, ψιλοκομμένα
• 6 φύλλα κρούστας
• Ελαιόλαδο για το άλειμμα της πίτας

Procedure

1. Καθαρίζουμε μια κολοκύθα που θα μας δώσει περίπου 1.5 κιλό σάρκας. Τη βάζουμε σε κατσαρόλα και την καλύπτουμε με νερό. Βράζουμε μέχρι να μαλακώσει η σάλκα και να χωρίζεται εύκολα με ένα πιρούνι. Την βάζουμε σε ένα τουλπάνι και τη στραγγίζουμε καλά για τουλάχιστον 6 ώρες. 
2. Προθερμαίνουμε το φούρνο στους 180 βαθμούς. 
3. Ζεσταίνουμε το ελαιόλαδο σε μια φαρδιά κατσαρόλα και σοτάρουμε τα κρεμμύδια για 3 - 4 λεπτά. Προσθέτουμε την στραγγισμένη κολοκύθα και ανακατεύουμε καλά. Αποσύρουμε από τη φωτιά, προσθέτουμε τα τυριά και τη μέντα και αφήνουμε τη γέμιση να κρυώσει.  
4. Αλείφουμε ένα ταψί με ελαιόλαδο. Απλώνουμε ένα φύλλο κρούστας και το αλείφουμε μς ελαιόλαδο. Επαναλαμβάνουμε με άλλα δύο φύλλα. Απλώνουμε την γέμιση πάνω στα φύλλα, γυρνάμε προς τα μέσα τυχών φύλλα που περισσεύουν αλείφοντας τα και αυτά με ελαιόλαδο. Απλώνουμε ένα φύλλο πάνω από τη γέμιση το αλείφουμε με ελαιόλαδο και επαναλαμβάνουμε με τα υπόλοιπα δύο. Ραντίζουμε με νερό. Κόβουμε την πίτα σε κομμάτια. 
5. Ψήνουμε την πίτα για 45 λεπτά μέχρι να γίνει χρυσή και τραγανή. 

Turkey, Asparagus and Rosemary Pasta / Ζυμαρικά με Γαλοπούλα Σπαράγγια και Δεντρολίβανο

Συνταγή στα Ελληνικά στα μέσα της σελίδας!

Ah...Istria...The land of wild asparagus, Malvazija, truffles and North European tourists in huge caravans...

I adore the first!

I am head over heals in love with the second.

Unfortunately allergic to the third and...

trying to avoid the forth like the devil - especially between June and August. 

Egg Fried Quinoa / Κινόα με Λαχανικά

Συνταγή στα Ελληνικά προς το τέλος της σελίδας!

Quinoa is one of my favourite grains. I discovered it about two years ago, when a contestant on the Greek version of Top Chef used it to make a low fat, healthy alternative to a high-calorie traditional dessert. 

I was intrigued and went on-line to check it out. The abundance of recipes amazed me and on my next shopping trip I bought a small packet to try it out. 

Two years later, it has become a permanent resident in my cupboard.