Easter mixed-greens pie with homemade pastry

In the Greek Easter table a pie (or even two sometimes) is a must! Usually a cheese pie of some kind and/or a greens pie are the most common ones for the day since there is a lot of meat around and you need something nice to balance the flavours. Try out this special greens and fresh herbs pie and I believe that you and your guests will enjoy it to the full! The greens are only an indication, beside the spinach and the Swiss chard, the rest could be any type of wild greens you might prefer or you can find in your region. If you don't have time to prepare this homemade pastry (which I strongly recommend because it is delicious) then you can use shortcrust pastry which is more suitable for such kind of pies

Roast lamb leg with artichokes and potatoes

Another recipe for lamb to cook for the family any Sunday, but why not this Easter Sunday as well? Just a few ingredients and a comfortable way of cooking will give you a delicious meal! The food is slowly cooked in the oven with the meat falling off the bone and the potatoes with the artichokes getting together well becoming so tasty and mellow

Egg salad with artichokes

A delicious egg salad which can be served proudly at the Easter table but also any other day during the next months when the artichokes will be again in their season. Plenty of Easter eggs will be around so this is a good idea of a recipe to use some of them and enjoy in a different way

Warm Spring asparagus with garlic dressing

A nutritious and very tasty vegetarian recipe to serve as a side dish next to any roast meat. It is based on a traditional recipe from Paros island, where the "wild" asparagus ("Kalfa" as the locals call them) grow. In many cases this recipe is also served as a warm salad at the Easter table. The locals, though, use to serve these asparagus boiled along with "skordalia" (the traditional garlic-based dip) any day throughout Spring time. The version we have today is a more simplified and lighter one but still delicious and a great idea to be served next to your Easter Sunday roast!

Easter sweet milk pie with homemade pastry

One more sweet milk pie, this time with homemade pastry to make things even more traditional! There are various versions of milk pies in Greece, those with no pastry at all, others with pastry only at the bottom, others with phyllo pastry and so on... This is a really nice and light pie and the best idea for a dessert after a rich meal like the Easter meals usually are. It can, of course, be served any time of the year but for some reason I find it one of the best Spring-time desserts

Easter spinach and leeks terrine with yoghurt and Anthotyro cheese

This is a very tasty recipe, light and refreshing and a great idea to serve it as a first or side dish on Easter Sunday table to enjoy with other delicious special dishes! Ingredients that are in their season now and match together very well to create this special terrine! The terrine can be prepared from the day before, which will save you time, and left in the fridge covered without losing any of its freshness or taste

Tender roast goat kid with mellow potatoes

This is one of the most classic Sunday's roasts in Greece all year round! But the Spring-time goat kid or lamb are always tastier and I think this is a great recipe for the foreign friends of our blog to enjoy on Easter Sunday! Easy to prepare, without difficult ingredients and the fact that it cooks in the oven gives you the chance to relax and enjoy this special day. I hope you'll enjoy it

Easter cookies with orange and cognac flavour

So, Easter is here again... At least for some of you since the Latin and Greek Orthodox Easter don't coincide this year. It is not my time for Easter recipes yet but since it is for most of the followers and passing-by readers of this blog I wished to honour them all the same! Keeping in mind that the eating habits are quite different I tried to choose some recipes that the foreign friends would not find troublesome or "weird" like some traditional Greek Easter recipes can be...:-) Lets start then with something really painless, easy to make and delicious. A recipe, one version out of so many, for Easter cookies that you can find around Greece. Enriched with orange and cognac this is a recipe which can be followed any time of the year to enjoy along with your coffee

Deep fried cod fish - the star of the day!

Today we have a great double celebration in Greece, the anniversary of the beginning of the Greek revolution against the Ottoman Empire and the Annunciation of the Mother of God, Mary. Although the 40day fasting period before Easter started last Monday, today there is an exception and people (who fast) can consume fish. And the star of the day is nothing else but cod fish! It can be cooked in so many different ways, the recipes are numerous all around the country but the most popular is the fried cod. Either in whole pieces or cut in bites, the cod (traditionally cured/salt cod fillets) is embraced by a thick batter and then deep fried. Hot, crispy and golden the cod becomes the king of the table in households and tavernas alike! Usually accompanied by "Skordalia", a traditional garlic-based dip and various green salads with beetroot salad probably as the most common. In today's recipe we have a very tasty version of fried cod balls along with a nice version of skordalia. The batter is enriched with Cretan "Tsikoudia" (see raki) and nicely spiced with paprika. Beside the beetroot salad, boiled potatoes and courgettes go with the fish very well drizzling on top with lemon and olive oil dressing. The amount of garlic used in the dip depends on how strong you want it to be, the more garlic the more hot the result

Potted chicken "yiouvetsi" with rosemary

A very hearty recipe to enjoy the classic "yiouvetsi" in a bit different way than the classic. Nicely spiced and flavoured with the rosemary giving a delicious final taste. Easy to prepare, it can easily become one of your favourite family meals. *** In Greece two types of orzo pasta can be found, the coarse and the fine one. The original recipe demands of the fine orzo but you use the type it is easier to find at your local market

Cabbage and carrot salad with yoghurt sauce

Delicious and refreshing salad to serve next to burgers, kebabs, grilled chicken, pork chops or any other grilled or BBQ meat. The salad can also be served as a light meal if you add a couple of boiled eggs on top along with some crusty bread

Leeks "yahni" with mushrooms and potatoes

A beautiful combination of ingredients giving us a delicious vegetarian dish for the whole family. Simple ingredients which, though, turn out into a hearty and filling meal. If you can find fresh, wild mushrooms definitely they are the best choice because they are always tastier. Don't hesitate to use different types of mushrooms in this dish for extra flavour. The bay leaf can be replaced by rosemary or sage in this recipe. Each herb gives its own distinctive aroma and taste but both go well with the leeks

Easy and fast chicken soup with angel hair pasta

Just a few ingredients are enough to prepare this very tasty and filling soup. There is no chicken as such involved in the recipe but if you have any leftovers from a previous meal then you could add it onto the plates in the end

Spicy hot chocolate drink with sweet wine

Before the Winter weather leave us for good lets try another delicious hot drink with chocolate. The spices suggested in the recipe are only an indication. The final taste and flavour of the drink is affected by the combination of the spices you'd like to use. So feel free to use your favourite ones. If you're planning to treat kids as well with this drink then you can omit the alcohol and in that case use single cream instead. As for the wine, you can substitute the Mavrodaphni with a Vissanto from Santorini island or a sweet wine from Samos island. Both are excellent and well known abroad

Cuttlefish with leeks and rice

One more recipe to cook this tasty and nutritious (although not so popular with many people) seafood and taste something really delicious! Rice and leeks cooked together is a classic Greek dish anyway but the addition of the cuttlefish makes it more tasty and more filling than ever. Nice combination of ingredients to serve as a main meal and enjoy something different

Semolina Halva "truffles" with pine nuts

Celebrating the "Clean Monday" day and the beginning of the Lent period of the Greek Orthodox calendar (the 40 days of fasting before the Easter Holy Week), I treat you with a different but very tasty variation of the traditional semolina halva dessert. It follows the classic recipe and then turns out to become these cute small balls to treat your guests with something special

Winter Moussakas with pleurotus

A different version of Moussaka to enjoy during the Winter months. Instead of aubergines, potatoes and courgettes the delicious and meaty pleurotus mushrooms are used for a special flavour and, like most of the time, a luscious and rich béchamel sauce on top!

Greek-style pickled boiled eggs

A nice recipe and very versatile since you can serve the pickled eggs as a meze for your ouzo or to add in various salads or in sandwiches. Not complicated at all and with simple ingredients this is a great delicacy to serve in any occasion of family and friends gatherings and in any season

Potatoes "Adinahtes" - Traditional Cypriot recipe

A really special recipe to cook the potatoes, creating a super tasty side dish to accompany various meats and especially pork! The word "adinahtes" comes from the verb "antinasso" which in Cypriot dialect means "to shake" and you will see further down why this happens... Just a few simple ingredients and an easy way of cooking are enough for this delicious dish! Don't go cheap on the wine, a very good choice for this recipe is to use a Cabernet Sauvignon

Baked squids stuffed with spinach and rice

This is a classic and delicious recipe to enjoy this tasty seafood with a filling that is so close to a popular vegetarian Greek dish, the "Spanakoryzo". What is good to keep in mind when your filling includes rice, is that you should not fill the squids too much because the rice will swell while cooking and the squids will "burst". The solution to this is, after the filling is in, to make a small hole at their bottom end to help the steam trapped in the squids to escape while cooking. This tip also helps when we fry squids and want to avoid all that annoying splattering of oil making a mess in the kitchen...

Homemade dough for sweet tarts

There are so many different recipes for homemade pastries and each housewife has probably her favourite one that she always follows. Here there is one more version appropriate for sweet tarts which you could use any season

Leeks and Anthotyro cheese crispy phyllo rolls

Serve these delicious rolls as a first or appetizer dish, proudly present them at a buffet table among other dishes or enjoy as a snack! Easy to make and easy to eat they will become one of your favourite phyllo pastry creations!

Crêpes with apple filling and orange flavoured sauce

Delicious and light recipe to end up a rich meal or to serve as a dessert any time or even for breakfast! Making our own crêpes is always better but if you don't have the time or you feel intimidated by the idea there are some excellent choices at the supermarkets



Braised rabbit with cabbage

A very different way from the classic recipes to cook the rabbit and enjoy it in the Winter months. The subtle taste and tenderness of the rabbit along with the cabbage create a really interesting combination giving you the pleasure of a hearty and filling meal

Fried eggs on crusty rustic bread

So simple, so easy and fast but sooo delicious to enjoy for breakfast or a light meal!! Classic recipe, bringing back childhood memories when ingredients like butter, eggs and bread were still so "pure" and when still people were not so worried about cholesterol, calories and all these evil things that nowadays give us nightmares and make us feeling guilty....



Penne with walnuts and radicchio

Simple and easy but delicious pasta dish not only for the vegetarians but all those who love pasta and would like to have something different! Easy recipe to prepare and with ingredients which work well together, this is a comfort meal for any day of the week

Chickpeas and cod fillet with rosemary

Two most nutritious ingredients, fish and dried pulses, get together to create a really tasty recipe! Cod and chickpeas cooked together giving us a different idea of enjoying them! Simple method, simple ingredients but with a great taste!

Spicy chickpeas dip with pine nuts

Fragrant and mild spices are used in this version of hummus giving a special taste and aroma! The pine nuts also add something extra to this dip which can be served along with pitta breads or toasted bread

Onion soup with red wine

The weather is  still quite cold and the soups have plenty of time before they say goodbye for this season... So, what do you think of having a tasty, filling and so aromatic soup at your table to enjoy with the family? Onion soup is one of the most favourite around the world with the French version probably the most popular but there are others which are equally delicious

Chocolate mousse with prunes

A very tasty mousse which can be served in any season and enjoy it as a sweet treat or after a rich meal. The recipe is not complicated and if you can find the sour variety of prunes they will give a nice balance with the sweetness of the chocolate *** It's good to keep in mind that melting chocolate in the "bain marie" method the water should simmer and not hard boil otherwise the chocolate will be ruined

Baked lamb leg stifado

This is one of those recipes which allow us to have a rather easy and calm time in the kitchen. Not too many ingredients, not a complicated method, no need to stand over the pot all the time and in the end we have a delicious dish to serve to the family keeping them happy! Another version of the classic recipe of stifado



Sandwich with grilled salmon and spicy mayonnaise

Easy to make, very tasty and nutritious at the same time this sandwich can be a great snack or even a light meal if served with some salad. You can also add some crumbled fresh Myzithra cheese or 1-2 tbsp of cottage or cream cheese mixing with the yoghurt. The quantity of the ingredients can easily be adjusted for more people

Potted giant beans with mixed vegetables

A delicious recipe for something different using this nutritious and very tasty dry pulse, the giant beans which are so versatile! Nice idea to have a hearty and filling meal without the need of any meat involved