Adapted from Mediterranean Hot and Spicy.
photo by Anastasios Mentis
Serves 4 (more…)
Pasta, Grains & Beans
Lentil Soup with Hyacinth Bulbs & Pasta with Lentilis
The soup is inspired by the description I found in an ancient text. Greek volvoi are no longer exported, so you can use the lampascioni from Puglia, either sold roasted or in vinegar. Alternatively you can substitute pickled pearl onions, avoiding the bitter taste… More about Greeks’ love of bitter taste.
Scroll down for the second day Pasta & Lentil I usually whip up with our leftover lentil soup.
See also the Lentil Soup with Pickled cabbage, and the Linguini with Spicy Lentils and Caramelized onions from my Mediterranean Vegetarian Feasts.
Makes 4 servings (more…)
Orzo with Fresh Fava, Feta and Lemon
I make this all the time, with any seasonal vegetable I harvest from the garden – diced tender zucchini, green beans or eggplants in the summer, squash, shredded cabbage, wild greens or spinach in the winter. The Orzo is cooked in the same style as Italian risotto, yielding a wonderful, creamy texture, though still with some bite.
Serves 3-4 (more…)
Athanasia’s Cranberry Bean Stew (Fasolia Handres tis Athanasias)
Athanasia Moraiti, my late mother in law, cooked the mottled fresh cranberry beans together with potatoes and peppers, a combination I had not considered until I tasted it, and loved it. I was under the impression that shelled beans and potatoes were not the best combination for a hearty stew, but I was wrong.
Fresh cranberry beans, called handres (beads), are sold frozen in Greece; they are delicious and cook very fast. Dried beans of any kind, not just cranberry, can also be used for this dish.
Feta cheese, with its salty-sour taste, complements ideally this as any bean stew.
4 servings