Boureki with Minced Meat (Rolls with Minced Meat)

Delicious, crunchy rolls, with onions, leek and spicy cheese. Serve them when you throw a party and they will steel the show!

Ingredients

• a pack of filo pastry
• 750g minced beef
• 1 leek, finely chopped
• 2 red onions, thinly sliced
• ⅓ teacup of extra virgin olive oil
• ⅓ teacup of white dry wine
• 2 teacups of grated, spicy gruyere cheese
• ½ bunch of parsley, finely chopped
• ½ bunch of mint, finely chopped
• salt
• freshly ground pepper

Method

Put the olive oil in a wide, shallow casserole and stir fry the minced meat for 6-7 minutes, until it changes colour. Add the onions and leek and stir fry for another 6-7 minutes, until they wilt.  Pour the wine in and wait for the alcohol to evaporate. Reduce heat, season with salt and pepper and put the lid on. Simmer for 20 minutes over low heat until the liquids reduce. Then add the herbs and the gruyere. Combine everything well and leave to cool completely. Cut each filo sheet into 4. Brush with oil. Spoon some of the filling on each quarter and roll it over. Pop them in a baking tray lined with greaseproof paper. Brush with olive oil and bake at 180ºC for 30 minutes until golden and crispy.
Alternatively: You can fry them if you wish.

portions 32

Preparation Time 30 minutes

Baking time 30 minutes

Source: argiro.com.gr

Cheese Pies with Yoghurt Dough (Tiropitakia)

There are a variety of cheese pies made in Greece. This is one made with Greek strained yoghurt. Please note, the yoghurt is not part of the filling, but is part of the dough itself, which gives it its own special taste. These small pies can be served as a side dish, or as a meze or in a buffet. They may be quite small, but they are actually rather filling and, of course, very tasty! They are also very easy to make.


Ingredients

½ kg all-purpose flour
100g Greek strained yoghurt
150g Feta cheese crumbled
3 eggs
200g butter
2 level teaspoons salt

Preparation

Mix the flour with the salt and rub in the butter.

Beat 2 of the eggs with the yoghurt and add to the flour mixture.

Mix all the ingredients but don’t knead the dough a lot.

Make the dough into a ball, cover with cling film and put it in the fridge.

Let the dough rest in the fridge for 1 hour.

On a floured surface, roll out the dough to a thickness of about ½ cm.

Cut the dough into circles of about 7 ½ cm diameter with the help of a cup or a circular cutter.

Remove the uncut dough, roll it into a ball and put back in the fridge.

Brush the circles with water and add 1 teaspoon of the crumbled Feta along the central diameter of each.

Fold the circles into semi-circles with the cheese inside and press the joined edge with a fork.

Beat the remaining egg and brush the cheese pies with it.

Place the pies in a large, shallow, buttered oven dish.

Bake them in a pre-heated oven at 180 degrees for about 30 minutes or until they have turned golden brown.

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Greek Artichoke Pie

A tasty and healthy pie. This can be served as a side dish, as part of a buffet or as a delicious snack.

Ingredients

For the filling
8 medium-sized artichokes

6 spring onions

250g roughly grated regatto cheese

100g ricotta cheese or anthotiro

1 free range egg

1 tablespoon butter

100ml olive oil

100ml milk

1 tablespoon sesame seeds

A few leaves of mint

Salt and pepper

For the filo pastry
300g wheat flour

100g all-purpose flour
120ml extra virgin olive oil
50ml ouzo

Salt

50g all-purpose flour kept separate in a bowl to be used when you roll out the dough.

Preparation

Filling

Peel the artichokes, discarding the outer leaves, until the soft inner leaves remain along with the heart.

Finely slice the artichokes.

Lightly fry the chopped onions and sliced artichokes in a spoonful of butter for a few seconds.

Add 3 tablespoons of water and simmer for 5 minutes.

Put in a bowl and add the grated regatto cheese with the ricotta or anthotiro along with salt, pepper and chopped mint.

Gently mix.

Filo Pastry

Mix all the ingredients in a large bowl with enough water to make a pliable dough.
Knead well and make a pliable dough.

Divide the dough into 6 balls.

Cover with clingfilm and set aside to rest for 1 hour.

Roll out each ball to the size of a medium oven dish, making it as thin as possible.

Place 3 layers of the filo pastry in an oven dish brushed with olive oil and brush in between each layer with olive oil.

Add the filling.

Place the other 3 layers of filo pastry on top, again brushing olive oil in between each layer and on top of the final layer.

Lightly score the final layer in squares.

Beat the egg and milk well and spread over the top of the pie.

Sprinkle the sesame seeds over the top.

Bake in a pre-heated oven at 180 degrees Celsius for 45 minutes until the pie is a lovely golden colour and well-baked underneath.

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Greek Souvlaki

 Here we have the recipe for Greek souvlaki - the plural is souvlakia. This can be eaten as a snack or as a filling lunch or supper. It's also very popular with the kids!
The normal accompaniments to the meat are tomato, onion, french fries and tzatziki. So in addition to the recipe below, you will need to have prepared tzatziki beforehand  and at some point to prepare some french fries.

Ingredients

1 kg shoulder of pork (boneless) cut into cubes

10 pita breads

1 large tomato finely sliced

1 onion finely sliced and kept in a bowl with salted water

Juice from 1 lemon

180 ml olive oil

1 tsp salt and 1 tsp oregano mixed in a small bowl

½ tsp salt

½ tsp oregano

Salt and pepper

10 thin wooden skewers

Preparation

Fix the pork cubes onto the skewers.

Place them in a bowl, sprinkle with salt and pepper and then immerse in 60 ml of the oil.

Put in the fridge for approx. 1 hour.

Remove from the bowl and grill on both sides on a barbecue or in the grill of the cooker.

Beat the remaining olive oil (setting aside 3 tbsp before you do so) in a bowl with the lemon juice.

 

Dip the souvlakia in this mixture and then place on a large dish or platter.

Sprinkle them with the salt and oregano mixture.

 

Cover them with aluminium foil to keep them warm while you prepare the pita breads.

Place the 3 tbsp oil you set aside earlier in a bowl, add the ½ tsp oregano and ½ tsp salt and stir.

Brush each pita bread with this and put under the grill. Turn over and brush the other side and grill.

Don’t leave the bread under the grill too long as it shouldn’t become hard. Just enough to warm it.

On a table or work surface put the souvlakia, pita breads, tomatoes, onions, French fries and tzatziki.

 

Remove the pork cubes from the skewer and place down the middle of the pita bread. 

Depending on what each person wants, add tomatoes, onions, French fries and tzatziki.

Fold the pita bread around the ingredients and wrap the bottom half with greaseproof paper or aluminium foil. (See photo at top)

An alternative is to get larger pork cubes and when you put them on the skewers add small slices of green, red and yellow peppers in between the cubes. You prepare in the same way, but this is not served with pita bread, but eaten straight from the skewer.

 

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Keftedakia (Small Meatballs)

The classic Greek meatballs are called Keftedes and Keftedakia are a smaller version of them (akia at the end of a word in Greek means "small" in the plural). They can be eaten as a snack, as a meze with ouzo and/or beer or just as part of a buffet meal. Children love these! And they are easy and quick to prepare!

Ingredients

1kg minced beef
1 large onion very finely chopped
Bunch of chopped parsley
A few leaves chopped mint
2 slices dry, white bread soaked in milk and well drained
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 whole egg
1 cup plain flour
1 ½ cup vegetable oil for frying
Salt & pepper to taste

Preparation

Apart from the flour and the vegetable oil, mix all the other ingredients together well.
Roll the mixture into small balls approx. the size of large walnuts.
Roll the balls in flour and then deep fry them for 15 minutes.

 

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Zuccchini Fritters (Kolokithopita)

These tasty fritters are very easy to prepare and can be served as one of several side dishes - they go nicely with Tzatziki - or as a light snack on their own.

Ingredients

½ kg zucchini
1 medium onion grated
150g feta cheese crumbled
4 tablespoons breadcrumbs
1 tablespoon chopped parsley
1 tablespoon chopped fresh mint
3 medium size eggs – preferably free range
200 ml sunflower oil
Salt and pepper

Preparation

Grate the zucchini and put it in a colander. Sprinkle salt on top and leave it to drain for 1 hour.

Beat the eggs lightly and place in a mixing bowl.

Add the rest of the ingredients.

Drain the zucchini well between the palms of your hands and add to the mixture.

Mix all the ingredients lightly.

Put the oil in a frying pan and heat well.

To make each fritter use a tablespoon to take a scoop from the mixture and with the aid of another spoon push it into the frying pan.

Fry the fritters for a few minutes until they are nicely browned.

Continue until all the mixture has been used.

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Greek Cheese Pie (Tiropita)

There are so many different types of cheese pies in Greece, it's unbelievable. I previously included the recipe for small cheese pies (tiropitakia) made with yoghurt dough. Now, here is another cheese pie which is incredibly easy to prepare and is unbelievably light - you almost need weights to keep it on the plate!

Delicious, and - very important - kids love it! In our experience anyway.

Ingredients

10 sheets filo pastry
½ kg full fat anthotiro cheese or 2 cups ricotta cheese
150g feta cheese
2 tablespoons melted butter
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 free range eggs
200ml milk

Preparation

Open the sheets of filo pastry and leave them out to dry and reach room temperature.

Once they have dried, crumble the filo pastry into small pieces and put them in a mixing bowl.

Add crumbled feta and crumbled anthotiro or ricotta and mix them with the filo.

Beat the eggs thoroughly and add the cinnamon, milk and melted butter to the eggs.

Add the egg mixture to the filo mixture and mix using your hands.

Butter a shallow, medium size oven dish and put the mixture in it.

Level it with your hands.

Bake in a pre heated oven at 180 degrees C for 40 minutes or until golden brown.

Remove from the oven and cut into portions (see photo).

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Greek Spinach pie (Spanakopita)

 

As with cheese pies, there are many types of spinach pie - spanakopita - in Greece.  This one is the more classical spinach pie and can be eaten as a side dish or is a very tasty and nutritious snack by it self. The recipe shows how you can make the filo pastry yourself - it's always tastier than the ready-made stuff.

Ingredients

For the dough
300g all purpose flour
40 ml olive oil
1 tablespoon ouzo
Salt
Lukewarm water – enough to make a pliable dough

For the filling
1 kg spinach
250g feta cheese
6 spring onions
1 bunch fennel – finely chopped
2 tablespoons fresh mint – chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil
Salt – but taste first as feta cheese is salty

For the egg wash
1 egg well beaten with 200ml milk


Preparation

Dough
Place all the dough ingredients in a bowl and knead well for 10 minutes.

Divide the dough into 6 balls of equal size.

Cover them with cling film and let them rest on a lightly floured surface for 1 hour.

Meanwhile, prepare the filling.

Filling
Finely chop the spring onions and put them in a pan with water.

Finely chop the spinach and add it.

Add the mint, fennel and a little salt.

Bring to the boil, stirring well.

Remove from the heat and put the mixture in a colander to drain well.

Press the mixture with a spoon in order to remove as much liquid as possible.

Transfer the mixture to a bowl.

Crumble the feta cheese and add it to the mixture along with the olive oil.

Stir and then set aside.

Dough
When the 1 hour has passed take 3 of the balls and, using a wooden rolling pin, open them into flat circles 15 cm in diameter.

Lightly brush the first ‘filo’ with olive oil and place the second one on top of it.

Lightly brush this one with olive oil and then place the third filo on top.

Sprinkle flour on top.

With a rolling pin open out the dough with the 3 filos until you have a large circle enough to fill a medium size oven dish and cover the edge.



Brush the oven dish with olive oil and place the dough in it, covering the edge.

Take another ball of dough and with a little flour and the use of the rolling pin, open it out into a circle which is the same size as the oven dish, but not including the edge.

Place this in the oven dish on top of the first layer.

Now spread the filling evenly on top of these layers.

Take another ball of dough and again open it out to the size of the oven dish.

Place it on top of the filling and brush with olive oil.

Take the final ball of dough and open it out to the size of the oven dish plus enough to cover the edge.

Place it on top of the others and join the extra at the edge with the edge from the bottom layer, using olive oil so that the edge of the whole pie is nicely sealed.

Brush the top of the pie with olive oil.

Lightly cut the whole pie into square portions, but without cutting down to the bottom.

Brush the pie with the egg wash.

Bake in a preheated oven at 180 degrees Celsius. For about 1 hour, until it has a nice golden brown colour.

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Greek Eggplant rolls (Bourekakia)

These are delicious little rolls that you can have as a side dish or as part of a buffet. Ideally, the Greek cheese anthotiro is used, but if this is unavailable, riccota can be used. Likewise, the Greek hard cheese kefalograviera is used ideally, but if this is unavailable, parmesan can be used (the Italians have a few nice cheeses as well :) ) As stated in the recipe, you should get sun-dried tomatoes that have been preserved in olive oil.

Ingredients

1 kg long aubergines

500g anthotiro (soft cheese like ricotta)

4 sun-dried tomatoes, chopped, that have been preserved in a jar of olive oil.

2 tablespoons of the olive oil that the tomatoes were preserved in

250g kefalograviera cheese (or parmesan) grated

250 ml sunflower oil

1 tablespoon chopped basil leaves

For the sauce

1 fresh, long green chilli pepper, chopped

1 litre puree from fresh, ripe tomatoes

1 whole garlic (small) chopped

1 tablespoon basil leaves, chopped

5 tablespoons olive oil

Salt and pepper

Preparation

Sauce

Saute the garlic for 2 minutes in the olive oil.

Add the chilli pepper and sauté for another minute, stirring with a wooden spoon.

Add the tomato puree, salt and pepper and simmer for approximately 30 minutes until the sauce is ready.

Sprinkle 1 tablespoon of chopped basil on top and stir well.

Eggplants

Remove strips of the eggplant skin, so that the eggplants have alternate ‘stripes’ of skin and no-skin.

Slice the eggplants lengthwise into strips of approx. ½ cm thickness.

Place them in salty water for 1 hour.

After 1 hour, remove from the water and drain well.

Fry the eggplant strips in the sunflower oil in a heavy bottomed pan.

Remove and place them on kitchen paper to drain the oil.

Mix together the anthotiro, chopped sun-dried tomatoes, half of the grated cheese, 1 tablespoon basil and the 2 tablespoons of olive oil from the tomatoes.

Mix them together well with your hands.

Place 1 teaspoonful of the mixture on top of the narrow end of one of the eggplant strips.

Roll up the eggplant strip, starting at the narrow end with the mixture.

Repeat this for all the eggplant strips.

Cover the bottom of a shallow oven dish with some of the sauce you prepared earlier and place the eggplant rolls in the dish next to each other.

Spread the remaining sauce on top.

Sprinkle the remaining grated cheese on top.

Bake in a pre-heated oven at 180 degrees Celsius for 30 minutes.

 

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Greek Eggplant Dip (Melitzanosalata)

Mmm!! One of my favourites! Smooth and tangy. This is traditionally made with Greek strained yoghurt but can also be made with mayonnaise instead. Try both ways and see which you prefer - with mayonnaise it has a slightly thicker, richer taste.

This is a side dish which can be served with any meat, fish or vegetable dish.

Ingredients

3 large eggplants
300g strained Greek yoghurt or mayonnaise
3 medium-sized cloves of garlic
2 tablespoonfuls extra virgin olive oil
1 lemon
Salt

Preparation

Wash the eggplants and make a few deep cuts in their skin with a sharp knife.

Bake them whole in a very hot oven for approximately 1 hour until the skin is burned and cracks if you tap it with your fingers. It is important to be burned because that gives a special smoky taste to the dip.

Allow them to cool and cut them in two lengthwise.

Scoop out the white flesh and try to remove the dark seeds.

Put the flesh in a colander, add salt which will remove the bitterness from the eggplants and lemon juice which will help them to remain white.

Allow them to stand and drain for an hour.

Mash them as much as you can with the help of a fork, do not use a blender.

Add the yoghurt (or mayonnaise), the crushed garlic and the olive oil and stir them well.

Place them in a shallow bowl and decorate them with parsley leaves and a few drops of olive oil.

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Greek Spinach Patties

 

These patties are really easy to make and are a tasty side dish or snack as well as being extremely nutritious.

Ingredients

1 kg fresh spinach finely chopped
1 bunch spring onions finely chopped
1 medium size leek finely chopped
200g feta cheese crumbled
1 egg lightly beaten
3 tablespoons crumbled rusks
3 tablespoons extra virgin oil
3 tablespoons dill finely chopped
Salt to taste


Preparation

Gently simmer the spring onions and leek in 3 tablespoons of water for 5 minutes, to soften them.

Drain them and let them cool.

Put the spinach in a mixing bowl, squeeze well with your hands and then drain off the liquid that has come out.

Add all the ingredients to the mixing bowl – apart from 1 tablespoon of oil – along with the onions and leek.

Mix them well and add salt, but be careful not to make it too salty, as feta cheese is salty.

Grease a shallow oven dish with the 1 tablespoon of oil you didn’t use.

Form the mixture into round patty shapes – 15cm diameter, 4cm height – and place them in the oven dish. Make sure you leave some space between them as they will spread slightly as they are cooking.

Bake in a preheated oven at 200 degrees Celsius for about 45 minutes.

Don’t worry if they appear soft – they will firm up as they cool.

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Leek and Cheese rolls (Prassobourekakia)

These are easily prepared and tasty little rolls that you can have as a side dish on the table or as part of a buffet. The cheeses used are regatto and Greek anthotiro, which is quite widely available abroad. As I said, they can be prepared easily and quickly and are a tasy addition to any meal or simply a delicious snack.

Ingredients

½ kg filo pastry
½ kg leeks
300g anthotiro cheese crumbled
100g regatto cheese grated
1 tablespoon butter (for the filling)
100g melted butter (to spread on filo pastry)
Salt & pepper to taste


Preparation
Wash the leeks, cut lengthwise into 4 and then chop into ½ cm wide pieces.

Boil 1 litre salted water, add the leeks and blanche for 5 minutes.

Drain the leeks well and put them in a mixing bowl.

Add the 1 tablespoon butter, anthotiro and regatto.

Mix well and set aside.

Open each sheet of filo pastry and cut across the width, not the length into strips approx. 15 cm wide. and spread the melted butter over them.

Repeat this for each sheet of filo pastry.

At the end of each strip place 1 tablespoon from the filling mixture you have previously prepared and roll it up.

Place the rolls in a buttered oven dish with the joins on the underside.

Brush some more melted butter over the tops of the rolls.

Place in a pre heated oven at 180 degrees Celsius for 45 minutes or until they turn golden brown.

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Greek Eggplant Fritters (Melitzanokeftedes)

This is a delicious meze! You can have it as an accompaniment to a meal, as a meze - which tastes wonderful with Tzatziki - or as part of a buffet.

Ingredients

1 kg round eggplants

1 medium tomato with skin & seeds removed and grated

1 large onion grated

2 cloves garlic grated

2 tbsp hard cheese grated

4 tbsp flour

3 tbsp rusks crumbled

2 tbsp parsley

1 tbsp lemon juice

1 tbsp olive oil

300 ml cooking oil

Preparation

Wash the eggplants and pierce each one lightly 2-3 times with a knife (so they don’t explode!).

Bake them in a preheated oven at 250 degrees Celsius on a grill with an oven pan below (to catch any dripping juices). Bake for approx. 45 min. or until the skin cracks if you tap it. The skin should be burnt.

Cut the eggplants in half, remove the flesh and put it in a colander to drain.

Sprinkle salt on top of them and add the lemon juice, so that the flesh doesn’t blacken.

Leave to drain for 1 hour.

Put the olive oil in a frying pan gently fry the grated onion for approx. 3 min. and then add the garlic and continue frying for another 2 min.

Put the eggplant flesh in a bowl and add the tomato, onion & garlic mixture, grated cheese, rusks, parsley and flour.

Mix well – it should be a thick mixture. If it isn’t thick, add some more flour.

Heat the cooking oil well in a frying pan.

Wet the palms of your hands and start to form balls from the mixture (see size in phot).

Place them in the hot oil and fry, turning them over, until they are a golden brown colour.

Remove and place on absorbent kitchen paper.

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