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Oven-cooked Eggplants and Peppers in Tomato Sauce
A kind of Greek, rustic ratatouille that can be made with any combination of summer vegetables. I particularly like it with just eggplants and green bell peppers plus plenty of onions and garlic, all...
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Creamy Eggplant Puree (Hünkar Beğendi)
This is my take on Hünkar, which is traditionally prepared with sheep’s milk butter; but I find that this olive oil variation can be equally sumptuous. Cheese plays a very important role in my...
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Eggplants Stuffed With Onions, Peppers, Cheese and Nuts
This is my tweak on a dish my mother used to make often in the summer. I usually bake the eggplants and make the sauce a day before, then sauté the onions and peppers and finish the dish the next day....
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Pasta with Raw Tomato, Garlic, and Basil Sauce: ‘Spaghetti alla Carrettiera’
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...
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Grape and Fig Harvest Tart
Six years ago, during our September 2014 Kea Artisanal Cooking vacation classes I made this pizza-like tart for the first time. It was the day we devote to bread and the different, sweet and savory...
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Ana Sortun’s Potato and Squash Boureki
Inspired by the traditional zucchini and potato Haniotiko Boureki (boureki from Chanea, Crete) the renowned Boston chef created and demonstrated this lighter, brilliant version during our glorious...
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Braised Chicken with Quince
On Chios, quinces are paired with free-range chicken; on Crete, with lamb; and on Lesbos, with veal. With quince from our trees on Kea I make a stew with the delicious local veal shank, but I also...
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Cauliflower Gratin with Garlic and Feta
We are addicted to this comforting winter dish that uses all parts of the cauliflower, not just the florets, so I included it in my Mediterranean Vegetarian Feasts. The first time I made it with...
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My Pasticcio
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...
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A Festive Winter Lunch
Since we do not celebrate Thanksgiving in our part of the world, and all over Europe, turkey, duck, occasionally goose, and on Kea usually rooster, is the central dish we serve for Christmas. I,...
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Roasted New Potatoes…without Recipe!
I often feel that the side dishes are more interesting than the meat or poultry that is traditionally served these days. A few years back when we dug out the second crop of potatoes from the garden I...
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PASPALAS: The Rustic Pork Confit of Kea
Like many foods we grew up with and take for granted, I have somehow overlooked until now the humble fried bits of pork used on Kea as general flavoring for eggs, greens, and any vegetable or bean...
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An Eastern Mediterranean Staple: Ksinohondro, Trahana, and Kishk
This traditional fermented ‘pasta,’ an ancient staple, is made in the summer with coarsely ground grains – wheat or barley – and milk or yogurt. Adapted from Mediterranean Vegetarian Feasts Scroll...
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Tyropita : Creamy Cheese Pie
As kids, my sister and I used to love this sweet, creamy tyropita. I hadn’t found my mother’s recipe since I never made this particular pie until Costas and I happened upon the mention of Tyrini, the...
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Spicy, Stuffed Bread with Broccoli or Spinach and Cheese
Inspired from the Sicilian stuffed focaccias of Catania. The same stuffing could have been used for a traditional Greek pie wrapped in phylo pastry. Instead of broccoli you can use spinach or any...
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Risotto with Greens, Herbs, Garlic, and Lemon
I fondly remember a light and delicious herb-lime risotto I enjoyed one sunny September day some years ago. I was at La Fenière, the celebrated hotel and restaurant in Loumarin, Provence, and this was...
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Red Rice Risotto with Leeks, Mushrooms, Fresh Fava, and Cilantro
South of Arles, in Provence, the legendary wetlands of Camargue produce a superb red long-grain rice. Grown in Europe’s largest delta, the rice tastes incredibly nutty and lends itself to all kinds of...
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Feta, Fig, and Herb Savory Cake, or Quick Bread
This is a wonderful and easy everyday treat “from France, where savory loaf cakes are often served with drinks before dinner,” writes Greenspan introducing the recipe she published in New York Times...
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Green, Spring Pasta (Pasta Primavera) with Asparagus, Fresh Fava, and Lemon
A very satisfying, brothy, lemony pasta that you can whip up in minutes, much like the tomato one-pot pasta. Use whatever fresh greens or vegetables you have at hand; the leftover asparagus stems give...
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Skillet-Grilled Asparagus with Olive-oil-fried-eggs
Green are the only fresh asparagus we find here, on the island. They come usually from the Peloponnese and are succulent, and wonderful. We like to briefly grill them on a stovetop griddle, on a...
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