Pastitsio, Greek Pasta Bake

After 14 years of driving to the South of France every summer, due to my eldest daughter's access and equipment needs, last week we treated our younger two now adult children to a last minute package holiday.  My son likes history and Greek mythology, my middle daughter likes sun and sea, and we all like food, so we settled on Rhodes.  They tried their best to eat most of the popular Greek dishes, but the one of the dishes they didn't try was Pastitsio, a layered lasagne like pasta bake, so I introduced them to it.

Serves 4-6

500g long pasta tubes, pastitsio no.2 aka bucatini, or penne
2 tbsp olive or sunflower oil
1 large onion, finely diced
2 large garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 courgette grated, or a bag of baby spinach leaves (optional)
500g beef or pork mince, or a mixture of both
150ml red wine
500g passata
1 tsp dried mint

1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp cinnamon

1 bay leaf
2 eggs

500g greek style yoghurt

1/4 tsp nutmeg
100g grated halloumi, cheddar, or parmesan

Gently fry the onion in 1 tbsp olive oil in a saucepan. 

When the onion starts to look translucent add the courgette if using.  Fry for 5-10 minutes until soft.  Add the garlic and mince, breaking the mince up as you cook it.  When broken up and with very few raw pink bits, add the passata, rinse the carton out with the wine and add this, and the herbs & spices, apart from the nutmeg.  Cover and bring to the boil then turn down to a simmer, stirring from time to time, whilst you cook the pasta.

Cook the pasta according to the instructions on the packet.  

Just before the pasta cooking time is up, check the pasta sauce. It should be slightly thick, like single cream. If still too watery, take the lid off and continue to simmer whilst you drain the pasta.

Drain the pasta, tip into a large high sided baking dish, and stir through 1 tbsp olive oil. 

Turn the oven on to 180C.  

Beat the eggs into the yoghurt together with a pinch of salt and nutmeg.

Pour the meat sauce evenly over the pasta (if being traditional the pasta should be lined up all the same direction in the baking dish, but I have yet to bother to do this), then evenly cover this with the yoghurt and egg mixture.  Top with the grated cheese.

Bake for 45-60 minutes at 180C in the middle of the oven or until golden brown and bubbling. You may wish to turn the grill of for a couple of minutes to brown the top, but keep a close eye on it - the cheese burns quickly! 

Serve with a big green salad.

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Romesco (Red Pepper & Almond) Sauce

A Spanish red pepper and almond sauce from Catalonia. I first had this a few weeks with hake at Rockfish in Poole several weeks ago.  When I made my own, it makes quite a lot for one person, and I've ended up eating it a variety of ways - as a pasta sauce, on sourdough toast, stirred into a salad, and as a dip - all equally good.

Serves 4, as a pasta sauce

200g roasted red peppers
100g almonds

1 garlic clove

1 tbsp sherry or apple cider vinegar

1 tsp smoked paprika

50ml olive oil

Simply blitz everything together in a food processor to a hummus like consistency,  I didn't add any vinegar as the jar of roasted red peppers I used was quite vinegary. Season to taste.

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Corsican Poulet aux Olives (Chicken with Olives)

A simple Corsican dish of essentially just...chicken and olives.

Traditionally cooked on the stove, we cooked this in a slow cooker on Bonfire Night to have a hot meal waiting for us on our return home

Serves 4

8 small chicken thighs

4 shallots, peeled and sliced into half-moons 

1 large garlic clove, peeled and crushed

1 tbsp olive oil

1 handful whole green olives, ideally stone in

1 glass (175ml) white wine or water

A rosemary or a few thyme sprigs (optional)

Brown the chicken thighs in a pan large enough for them fit as a single layer.

When browned, remove to a plate and fry the shallots and garlic in same pan for a minute or so together with any herbs if using.

Add the wine or water, return the chicken to the pan skin side up, and scatter over the olives (my partner cooked this recipe as I translated a very sketchy French recipe from the lounge, and took it upon himself to slice the olives).

Cover and bring to the boil. Turn down to a simmer and cook for 30 minutes.  

If cooking in a slow cooker, prepare as above.  After adding the wine/water to the pan, heat this to boiling then pour into the warmed slow cooker.  Place the chicken skin side up into the wine/water and scatter over the olives. Cook for 6 hours on high.

Serve with a green salad and pasta, rice, or crusty bread. 

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Muhammara, Roasted Red Pepper & Walnut Dip

Another week, another red pepper dip (I made Balkan Ajvar a couple of weeks ago).  

Muhammara is a Syrian red pepper, walnut, and pomegranate molasses dip. I didn't have pomegranate molasses, so googled that balsamic vinegar is an acceptable substitute.  Muhammara also typically includes breadcrumbs, but I found mine was a good dippable/spreadable consistency without any.

4 roasted red pointed peppers
100g walnuts

4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 garlic clove, peeled and crushed 

1 tbsp tomato paste

1 tbsp pomegranate molasses or balsamic vinegar

1/2 tsp smoked paprika

Salt and pepper to taste

Breadcrumbs to thicken if needed

Roast the peppers in an oven together with the peppers about 30 minutes at 200C.  These can also be roasted in an air fryer for a similar length of time.  Turn the peppers when they are beginning to blacken on the top.  When collapsed and charred,  take out of the oven and place in a sealed plastic bag (this helps loosen the skins). 

When cool enough to handle, discard the stalk, peel off the loosened skin, and scrape out the seeds and discard.  Don't worry if a few seeds slip out of your grasp.

Whizz all the ingredients together in a mini food processor, adding a heaped tablespoon of breadcrumbs at a time too runny, until you get a consistency you like.

Serve as a dip with crudités, warmed flatbreads, or sauce for pasta or salad potatoes.

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Courgette & Cannellini Beans

The courgettes on my allotment are finally coming.  

One of the ways I store a glut of courgettes is to grate and shallow fry them until golden, as fried courgettes reduce down to less than half their original size, and freeze. Once grated and cooked down they find their way into pasta sauces and curries over the winter

Today I mixed a serving (2 courgettes grated & fried) with a can of cannellini beans. For other courgette recipes click here

Serves a greedy 2

4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

2 courgettes, coarsely grated

1 can cannellini beans, drained but reserve the liquid

1 tbsp balsamic vinegar

1 small clove of garlic, peeled and crushed

1 tbsp chopped fresh parsley (optional)

In a non stick frying pan, fry the courgettes in 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil over a medium high heat.  Stir every couple of minutes so the top layer of grated courgettes get a turn on the bottom of the hot pan.  It takes about 20 minutes to lightly brown this quantity of courgettes.

When the courgette is golden and reduced down, tip in the drained beans, 2 more tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil and the rest of the ingredients. 

Mix well and add a little of the bean liquid if you want a looser mixture.  Season to taste.

Serve hot or cold with crusty/toasted bread.

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Ajvar, Balkan Roasted Aubergine & Red Pepper Dip

Googling a dip to make with aubergine and red peppers, I came across Ajvar. It is a simple but full flavoured dip made with roasted aubergine and peppers.

Serves 4

1 aubergine

3 red peppers

1 clove of garlic

3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 tbsp white wine vinegar

1/2 tsp hot chilli flakes

Salt and pepper

Prick the aubergine and roast in an oven together with the peppers for 45 minutes at 200C.  These can also be roasted in an air fryer for a similar length of time.  The peppers may need removing after abut 30 minutes if getting too blackened.  When charred place the peppers in a sealed plastic bag to to help loosen the skins when cooled.

Scrape the flesh of the cooked aubergine into a food processor.  Discard the skin, seeds, and stalk of the peppers and add the flesh of the pepper to the food processor with the other ingredients.

Process until a smooth paste. Adjust the seasoning to taste.

Serve as a dip, sauce, or sandwich filling 

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Maroulosalata, Greek Chopped Lettuce Salad

The Greek Salad most of us think of is generally tomato, cucumber, onion, feta cheese, and olives.  However, much to my delight with a lettuce glut at the allotment, I have learnt there is Greek lettuce based salad, Marousalata.  

All the recipes I looked at online just used lettuce, spring onions (scallions), and feta. I don't know if these are traditional Greek ingredients, or have been adapted to US tastes.  I personally prefer to use red onion, add cucumber, and sometimes use halloumi instead of feta.

Serves 4 as a side

1 Cos or Romaine lettuce

1/2 small cucumber (optional)

4 spring onions or 1/2  medium sized red onion 

100g feta or halloumi cheese

2 tbsp chopped fresh dill or mint

4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 tsp lemon juice 

Slice the lettuce into 1cm strips, turn through 90 degrees and slice again so you have little squares of lettuce and place in a salad bowl.

Chop all the onion, and cucumber if using, to a similar size and place on top of the chopped lettuce

Crumble the feta over the top, followed by the olive oil, lemon juice, and herbs.

Toss the salad before serving.  As feta is quite salty, I prefer to let everyone season their own to taste once served.

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Easy Caponata (Sicilian Vegetable Stew)

Caponata is a Sicilian vegetable dish, similar to Ratatouille.

This Caponata recipe, from Jamie Oliver, has a lot less ingredients than many online and much more to my taste ie no raisins nor celery.

Serves 4

2 aubergines

1 red onion, peeled and thinly slice

2 cloves of garlic, peeled and thinly sliced

Olive oil2 tablespoons capers

1 handful of green olives

Tin of cherry tomatoes

½ a bunch fresh flat-leaf parsley (15g)

2 tbsp red wine vinegar

2 tbsps flaked almonds

Cut the aubergine into large chunks and fry in a wide saucepan or sauté pan over a medium high heat in a large glug of olive oil.

While the aubergine is frying, prepare the onion and garlic.

When the aubergine is golden on most sides (about 5 minutes) add the onion and garlic, and fry for a few minutes.

Add the capers and olives. Stir around then add the vinegar.

When the vinegar has almost evaporated away add the tinned cherry tomatoes and simmer gently for 15 minutes.

Stir in the parsley and flaked almonds before serving.  Season to taste.

Caponata can be eaten hot or cold (room temperature).  

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Roasted or Grilled Peppers

Warning, home roasted/grilled peppers are addictive, and a lot of peppers roast down to a not enough.  They are just so tasty and moreish.

Serves 4

4 large red, orange, or yellow peppers (green peppers aren't as sweet so I avoid them)

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 clove of garlic, peeled and crushed

A large pinch of salt

1 tbsp chopped broad leaf parsley

Place the peppers in an ovenproof dish or tray and grill under a medium high heat until the skins starts to blister and blacken.  This could take 5-10 minutes depending on your grill, possibly even more.  They can be roasted in a hot oven with other dishes, but this takes longer.  Grilling on a barbecue also works well.

When blackened on one side turn them over with tongs and repeat on the other side.

Once blackened on both sides, and collapsed, place the hot peppers into sealable pot, ideally once you can store and serve them in.  Seal the pot and leave for 20 minutes or so to cool enough to handle.

When cool enough, peel the skin off the peppers, remove the stalk, slice in half lengthways,  remove the seeds and slice into thin strips.

Toss in the olive oil, crush garlic, salt, and parsley.  Leave for about 20 minutes for the flavours to mingle if you can.

Serves as an accompaniment, or on bruschetta.

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Patatas Bravas, Spicy Spanish Potatoes

Wonderful fried potatoes in a slightly spicy rich tomato sauce.  I made these for a Spanish themed (sherry) night.

Serves 8 as tapas

800g small salad potatoes, halved lengthways
1 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, peeled and finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, peeled and sliced
1 fresh chilli, deseeded and roughly chopped
1 tbsp fresh rosemary leaves

1 tsp fennel seeds

500g passata
1 tbsp sherry or wine vinegar

1 tsp sweet paprika

Salt & pepper

Light olive oil for frying

Bring some water to the boil, and boil the potatoes for 10 minutes, until they start to feel slightly tender when poked with a sharp knife. Drain in a colander and leave to steam whilst you get on with the sauce.

In a saucepan large enough to hold the potatoes, heat 1 tbsp olive oil over a low heat. When hot, add the onion and 2 sliced garlic cloves, and cook until soft but not coloured. 

Stir in the chilli and fennel. When you can smell the fennel, add the tinned tomatoes and vinegar and a good pinch of sea salt and black pepper. Bring the sauce to the boil then turn the heat down to a simmer for 10-15 minutes until the sauce has thickened.

While the sauce is reducing, heat 2 tbsp olive oil in a large non stick frying pan over a medium high heat.

When the oil is hot, fit as many potatoes into the pan as you can, taking care not to overcrowd the pan. You will need to do this in several batches. Fry the potatoes for 8-10 minutes, turning to get them golden brown on each side. Once browned, stir in the final sliced garlic clove and rosemary, and turn the heat off once you can smell them.

Mix the potatoes and sauce and serve hot or cold on saucers as a tapas.

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Zoe.com Aubergine Parmigiana

Being gifted some aubergines seemed the ideal opportunity to make an Aubergine Parmigiana, which I had wanted to try for a long time.  This recipe could also be made with courgettes.

I looked at several recipes, including traditional Italian recipes, but settled on @zoe's recipe because I liked the idea of adding lentils to the tomato sauce to make it more filling as a main meal.

@Zoe's recipe is copied below, with my notes in italics

Serves: 4 (with leftovers)
Preparation Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour
Plant Count: 7
Diet: Vegetarian (Vegan with swaps)
Fibre: 10–15g per serving

3 aubergines, sliced lengthways into 1cm-thick slices (or 5-6 courgettes)
2 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
1 red chilli, thinly sliced
1 x 400g tin chopped tomatoes (14 oz)
1 x 400g tin black or green lentils, drained (14 oz)
30g basil leaves, torn, plus a few extra for garnish 
125g ball of mozzarella, torn (4.4 oz)
20g finely grated Parmesan cheese (0.7 oz)
Salt and black pepper

Top-ups: Kimchi, Extra basil
Swaps: Black-eyed beans for lentils, Vegan cheese alternative

Preheat the oven to 200°C/180°C fan/400°F/gas 6. Line a large baking tray with baking parchment and lay out the aubergine slices in a single layer. Season with salt and pepper and drizzle 1 tablespoon of the olive oil all over. Bake for 25 minutes until golden and soft. I took the more traditional Italian route and shallow fried my aubergine slices in olive oil until golden brown, but it does use a lot of olive oil.

Meanwhile, place a frying pan over medium heat and sauté the onion in the remaining oil for 3 minutes until softened. Add the garlic and chilli, and cook for 1 minute more. Pour in the chopped tomatoes and lentils, then half-fill the tomato tin with water and add this to the pan. Simmer for 10 minutes until slightly thickened. Add the torn basil leaves and cook for 5 minutes more, then season with salt and pepper.
Spoon a third of the ragu mixture into the base of a 20–23cm (8–9 inch) square ovenproof dish (or similar) and top with a layer of aubergine. Repeat this twice more, then finish with the torn mozzarella and grated Parmesan. I used a 200g ball of mozzarella which covered the top layer of aubergine really well once melted.

Bake for 30 minutes until the cheese is bubbling and golden brown. Serve with some steamed greens or salad on the side.

Tips and Techniques

Cheese alternatives: For a vegan version, swap the mozzarella and parmesan for vegan alternatives.

Meal prep: This dish works great as leftovers. Store in the fridge for up to 3 days, and reheat in the oven or airfryer (180C for 10-15 minutes) to regain the crispy texture.

Customise your veg: Feel free to add more vegetables like spinach, bell peppers, carrots or celery to the ragu to up the plant count.

FAQs

Can I use other types of beans instead of lentils? Absolutely! You can swap lentils for black-eyed beans, chickpeas, or even cannellini beans.

Can I prepare this dish ahead of time? Yes, you can assemble the dish and refrigerate it until you're ready to bake

Can I freeze the leftovers? Yes, you can freeze portions of the cooked aubergine parmigiana in an airtight container for up to 3 months. Reheat in the oven for best results.

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Caponata, Sicilian Vegetables

Caponata is Ratatouille's Sicilian cousin.  Apart from the aubergine, ingredients seem to vary. Tomatoes, onion, celery, olives, and capers seem common from recipe to recipe. Courgette, pepper, pine nuts, and raisins (should only be in a cake in my opinion) slightly less so.

2 aubergines

1 courgette

1 red pepper

1 onion, peeled

1 stick of celery

2 large cloves of garlic

4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 can cherry or chopped tomatoes

20 unpitted green or black olives, destoned

2 tbsp capers

30g pine nuts

Can of cannellini beans, black beans, or green lentils (optional)

Chop the aubergine, courgette, onion, and celery into chunky bite sized pieces.

Toss in the olive oil, together with the unpeeled garlic cloves and salt, and bake in a high sided baking dish for 40 minutes at 200C, stirring halfway through the cooking time.

At the end of the cooking time, stir in the rest of the ingredients into the hot baking dish to warm up.  There should be enough residual heat in the baking dish to heat the tomatoes enough. If not, pop back in the oven for 10 minutes.

To make this dish a little more filling (and add more carbohydrate, fibre, and protein) add a can of cannellini beans, green lentils, or black beans.

Eat hot or cold. The flavours of this dish will develop if left to cool overnight.

Caponata can be cooked on the stove, frying the vegetables in the olive oil until browned and they adding the remaining ingredients.

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Mediterranean Rice

OH came up with this dish whilst cooking in the cramped static caravan in the south of France, and with the limited supplies in the small campsite shop (we had sweetcorn instead of yellow pepper, and he mistakenly picked up tuna in tomato sauce) 

Serves 4

1 tbsp olive oil
1 large onion, peeled and diced 
1 large clove of garlic, peeled and crushed
2 cans tuna chunks in oil
1 yellow pepper, deseeded and diced 
1 beef tomato, diced 
500g cooked rice (we could only find rice in sachets, which only took 12 minutes to cook)

Chilli powder (optional)

Soften the onion, pepper, and garlic in a large saucepan in either olive oil or the oil from one of the tuna cans.

When the onion is translucent, add the chopped tomato and cook gently until it starts to soften.
Stir in the tuna and rice and heat to piping hot. 

Serve with chilli powder if desired 

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Makaronopita, Greek Macaroni Cheese

Quite simply, Makaronopita is Greek macaroni cheese made with feta, to which I added some chard.

Serves 4

250g macaroni

250g chard or spinach

1 clove of garlic

600ml milk

50g plain flour 

1/4 tsp nutmeg

300g feta

3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

2 free range eggs, beaten 

100g cheddar cheese, grated 

Cook the macaroni according to the instructions on the packet.  Drain, return to the pan and toss in 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil.

Clean and roughly chop the chard or spinach. Heat 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil in a saucepan and wilt the chard, adding the crushed garlic just before turning off the heat.  Stir the wilted chard into the cooked pasta.

Whisk milk, flour, extra virgin olive oil, and nutmeg together in a saucepan.  Heat gently, stirring with a spatula until it starts to thicken.  Once it starts to thicken, turn the heat down to the lowest and continue stirring until it starts to bubble.  Stir in the beaten egg, then pour over the pasta, chard & feta, and mix thoroughly.

Pour into an oiled high sided baking dish, sprinkle over the grated cheddar, and bake for 40-45 minutes at 180C until golden brown.

The greek recipe website I based this on said to let the dish rest for 30 minutes before serving, but we are all too impatient/hungry so served it immediately!

19/10/24 I made a cheats version of this, using a pot of cottage cheese instead of the white sauce, and omitted the egg as I thought there was enough protein. It worked really well.

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Tomato Bruschetta

I know this dish as Pa amb Tomàquet, a Catalan staple of tomato rubbed over toasted or untoasted bread and seasoned with olive oil and garlic. But more people have heard of Tomato Bruschetta.

It's a great way of using tomatoes that are starting to go soft, and stale/hard baguette, sourdough, ciabatta, focaccia etc

100g ripe tomatoes (a handful of cherry tomatoes, or 2 medium sized), roughly chopped
1tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 small garlic clove, peeled and roughly chopped

Pinch of salt

Stale bread

Whizz up the tomatoes, olive oil, garlic,and salt in a mini food processor.

Slice the bread, place in a shallow dish, and pour over the tomato pulp.

Cover and leave overnight ideally, for the flavours to develop and for the tomatoes to soften the bread. Eat at room temperature for the best flavour 

Pa amb Tomàquet is eaten as breakfast and as a snack/tapas throughout the day in Catalunya.

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