Tsoureki (sweet bread)
Greek Easter is full of drama and the food follows in the same line. Throughout the Holy Week, we are supposed to abstain from meat and dairy and on Good Friday we don’t even have olive oil (other oils are ok although many older people just eat soups boiled in water).
Mageiritsa soup
After Easter midnight mass on Saturday, we crack our red eggs and eat mageiritsa, a special soup made with lettuce, dill and innards (blech). I actually make a vegetarian version and you can find the recipe here. Then we may have some cheese or tsoureki (a sweet bread) and that’s it. It’s after midnight, remember? And you have to leave room for the next day.
Easter Sunday is the biggest feast of all. That is, if you are not a vegetarian. That’s when people spit roast lamb ALL DAY and also eat other kinds of offal which I’d rather not talk about.
Baklavas
Sour Cherry spoon dessert
On Easter Sunday We also have lettuce salad, greek salad, tsatziki and several homemade pies like spinach pie or cheese pie. After lunch which usually lasts till dinner, we have desserts like baklava or koulourakia (butter cookies) and tsoureki.
Nafpaktos
Giant beans eaten on Good Friday in "Petrino" restaurant, Nafpaktos
Beet salad eaten in "Petrino" restaurant, Nafpaktos
Aubergine patties eaten on Good Friday in "Petrino" restaurant, Nafpaktos
This year, we spent Easter in Nafpaktos, a beautiful seaside town and we were very lucky, foodwise. Most restaurants serve great food, but especially Maria Loi’s. She is a well known Greek chef and has opened her restaurant in Nafpaktos. It’s the sweetest place and she is kind and attentive to all. She called us on the mobile to tell us she had found a table for us (the restaurant was fully reserved) and she even made special vegetarian food for us.
Fresh pasta filled with truffle at Maria Loi’s restaurant, Nafpaktos
Rocket and greens salad with a delicious vinegraitte which had some sweet fig syrup, at Maria Loi’s restaurant, Nafpaktos
Cheese cake, chocolate coated strawberries and panna cotta at Maria Loi’s restaurant, Nafpaktos
Mum’s easter salad
We had Easter Sunday lunch at my mum’s. Think Christmas dinner. Now multiply by 10. That’s my mum’s Easter lunch. This year the vegetarian options were roast potatoes, spring salad, mushroom pie, stuffed vine leaves (dolmadakia), cheese souffle, tsatziki, greek salad, the obligatory red eggs, several cheeses, and baklava and ice cream for dessert.
Mum’s mushroom pie
Mum’s stuffed vine leaves (dolmadakia)
These dolmadakia are so tiny, just a bite and my sister and I treat them like precious gems. My mother gave some to my mother in law and my sister and I sulked. Mum said: "But I gave you too!" Whereupon we replied "Oh, yes? How many? One hundred?"
I found this Greek, traditionally made pasta and I am a sucker for nice packaging so I bought it. I also thought, let’s try it and see if we like it for the deli. I decided to prepare it with aubergines, zucchini and feta cheese. It’s not a fancy recipe, but it is really tasty and easy and nutritious.
For 4 persons, cut 2 aubergines and 3 zucchinis in strips. Sprinkle with salt and set them aside.
Prepare the pasta. It’s going to be more tasty if you boil it in vegetable broth instead of just water. In my case it was ready in 7 minutes. Drain and leave aside (try to keep a little of the water so that the pasta won’t stick).
Put two ripe tomatoes and one spring onion in the food processor but don’t completely liquidize them.
Heat 3 tablespoons of olive oil and add 2 garlic cloves. When you can smell the garlic add the aubergines and a couple of minutes later the zucchini. A couple of minutes later add the tomato sauce. Season and add some dried spearmint.
When the vegetables are tender (but still retain their shape) place them in an oven dish with the pasta. Mix everything well together and add 2 cups of feta cheese in small cubes. Before you put it in the oven (180 Celsius or 356 F, or gas mark 4) sprinkle with some olive oil. Remove from the oven 15 minutes later or when the feta cheese has melted. You can also add pitted olives if you want.
Serve with some basil leaves and fresh pepper. Kali oreksi (Bon appétit in Greek).
This was another one of those days when you don’t have time to go shopping and have to make do with whatever there is in the fridge. It was my son’s birthday so I had to make the things he like best, which is soya kebabs and chips. Peas and potatoes are a staple in Greece -and also peas and artichokes- but I wanted to add something more so I added spinach and chopped cabbage. Plus some mint and lemon.
It came out really tasty and fresh and it is no trouble at all. You can add whatever greens you may have as long as they are not too bitter.
Peas with everything
First I heated 3 tablespoons of olive oil in the pan and then I added one chopped onion. I mixed in 2 potatoes coarsely cut and 2 chopped cups of white cabbage. When the potatoes started softening I added 2 cups peas and 2 cups chopped spinach. You treat it a bit like risotto, adding water as you go, or even better, vegetable stock. Finally, I sprinkled some mint and served with a slice of lemon. It goes great with feta or any other white and slightly salty cheese. You can eat it a day old and it will still taste great, it gets better with age (limit it to just one day though).
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