My Pasticcio

Wednesday November 11th, 2020Wednesday November 11th, 2020 aglaia Leave a comment

Greek pasticcio (or pastitsio) is a béchamel-topped dish of macaroni mixed with ground meat cooked with onions in a cinnamon-scented tomato sauce, then mixed with cheese, and béchamel. I often use up leftover meat or poultry instead of ground meat for my pasticcio. The dishes’ name is Italian (it literally means “a mess”) but pasticcio as such does not exist in Italy, though its roots are in the elaborate timbales, the pastry-enrobed meat-pasta-vegetable pies prepared for special occasions.

Read about its origins and get the recipe for the old Pastry-enrobed version.

Makes 6-8 servings (more…)

Pasta with Raw Tomato, Garlic, and Basil Sauce: ‘Spaghetti alla Carrettiera’

Wednesday September 16th, 2020Wednesday September 16th, 2020 aglaia Leave a comment

There is no better way to showcase the succulent, end-of-summer tomatoes than using them to flavor this simple, yet delicious dish.

Throughout Italy there are many versions of raw tomato sauces: a similar dish I had published in my Mediterranean Hot and Spicy. It was more spicy, based in Crudaiola the name used for the sauce in Puglia –the heal of the Italian boot.

Similar sauces are whipped-up all over the Italian south and probably more famous is pesto Trapanese, from the eponymous Sicilian city, which combines almonds, tomatoes, and cheese. I recently came accross this other Sicilian peasant version in Serious Eats: ‘Spaghetti Alla Carrettiera’ which I consider by far the best of the raw tomato sauces; and also the simplest.

As we read in the recipe’s intro “In the olden days, wandering cart drivers would crisscross the Italian countryside, selling goods, wares, and basic cooking ingredients to the townspeople along the way. When they were hungry, they’d quickly whip up a sauce like this using just the basic ingredients they had on their cart.” One can add cheese, but I found that it is not really needed. I suggest you try it first without.

Following the Greek and Eastern Mediterranean tradition I do not blanch and skin, or seed the tomatoes, but simply cut in half and grate them to get their pulp. I always felt that the greenish jelly around the tomato’s seeds is especially delicious, so I don’t want to lose it. (more…)

Baked Giant Beans with Garlic and Dill (Gigantes Skordati)

Thursday November 29th, 2018Tuesday December 15th, 2020 aglaia Leave a comment

In this, somewhat unusual dish, the beans have a lovely sweet, creamy and garlicky taste, scented with oregano and plenty of dill.

Photo by MANOUSOS DASKALOGIANNIS

I got the recipe from the North of Greece and I particularly love to bake it in the winter, but also all year round, as I am fed up with the common baked gigantes in tomato sauce that all taverns serve.

From my first book The Foods of Greece

Serves 6

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Mini-squash and Quince Stuffed with Wheat Berries, Nuts and Raisins

Friday November 17th, 2017Tuesday November 26th, 2019 aglaia 4 Comments

This is my suggestion for a glorious vegetarian main course. I bet that even avid meat-eaters will enjoy it.

The combination of the sweet, mini squash with the tart quince is perfect! For the stuffing I adapted the recipe for the Stuffed Quince I have in my Mediterranean Vegetarian Feasts (page 156) omitting the tomato sauce.

The small squash can be an interesting substitute for quince in case you cannot get the fragrant old apple-like fruit, which is the epitome of our Mediterranean winter. I actually envy my American friends because they can get these absolutely fantastic mini butternut squash, or honey-nut-squash as they are called. They were developed by Michael Mazourek, a plant breeder at Cornell University, in collaboration with the visionary Dan Barber.

If you are going to stuff just the squash, I suggest you add some tart apple to the stuffing or spike its sweetness with pomegranate molasses. (more…)

Santorini Fava with Caramelized Onions and Capers

Thursday November 2nd, 2017Monday December 28th, 2020 aglaia 3 Comments

Braised capers are an ideal topping for the local fava, the trademark dish of Santorini. Today Santorini Fava is served as a meze at taverns throughout Greece, usually prepared with mashed, imported yellow split peas (dal), dressed simply with fruity olive oil, topped with sliced onions and dried Greek oregano.

Recipe adapted from Mediterranean Vegetarian Feasts

In the old days, though, fava was made from dried fava beans and/or from an indigenous, ancient legume, a variant of Lathyrus sativus (chickling vetch or grass pea), called cicerchia in Italian and almorta in Spanish.

Inspired chef Dimitris Mavrakis, in Kritamon, his wonderful restaurant in Archanes, Crete, makes fava with a combination of legumes: dried fava beans, split peas and some lentils, and the flavor of the pureed beans is wonderful, even without any topping (see variation).

8-10 Meze servings

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