I like to vary and experiment with my breads and savory biscotti using, instead of water, pulps of greens and/or vegetables like squash.
In the summer I make this flavorful flat bread using leftover tomato-onion-and-caper salad. We liked it so much that we wanted also make it in the winter, when vine-ripened tomatoes are not available, so I use a combination of sun-dried tomatoes with some of the usually flavorful cherry ones (See Note).
Yields 2 laganes (focaccia-like flat breads)
Adapted from Musa Dagdeviren, as presented at the 2008 World of Flavors Conference
A simple and delicious appetizer or relish from the master Turkish chef. Serve with toasted pita, as meze or as a side-dish with grilled meat and poultry.
Makes about 4 1/2 cups (Serves 8-10) (more…)
This ‘yellow pizza’, as its name implies, is a savory, rich and gluten-free cake that is often added to vegetable and greens’ soups in the Italian south.
From my Mediterranean Hot and Spicy
Unlike American cornbread here the cornmeal cooks in milk until almost as thick as polenta, and then it is mixed with cheese, eggs and hot peppers. The hearty cornbread is delicious on its own, but I also like to serve it along grilled vegetables. Dice any leftover bread, dry it in a low oven and keep in an air-tight bag to add to vegetable or bean soups, as Italians do, or mix with yogurt for a hearty breakfast.
Serves 6-8 (more…)
I tasted the tomato-less version of saganaki in Chalkidiki, in northern Greece, many years ago. It was prepared with the local mussels which were wonderful. But in my kitchen in Athens, as I was trying the recipe, I had to use frozen mussel since fresh ones were not readily available then, and the result wasn’t great.
I decided to substitute shrimp for the mussel and I loved the dish, so I included it in my first book The Foods of Greece.
In my original recipe I gave the option of mussels or shrimp, but over the years I have decided that the shrimp’s sweetness is perfectly balanced with the lemony sauce, the herbs and the briny feta. It is a matter of taste, of course, but I definitely prefer shrimp for this soupy saganaki.
Serves 3-4
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