Home made crêpes with leeks and cheese filling

A simple but delicious recipe which can be served either as a first dish or as a light main meal. Children-friendly as well, it will make them eat one of the most tasty Winter-time vegetables, the leeks. Better to prepare your own  crêpes of course but good quality store-bought ones will definitely save you some time

Marinated cauliflower, olives and Spring onions salad with spicy lemon dressing

A very nutritious salad which can be also served as a first dish! The fresh, crunchy cauliflower along with the rest of the ingredients blend together nicely offering a very tasty and seasonal dish

Refreshing shrimps cocktail - A retro dish that never fails!

For years it used to be the star, the "must", the "trendy" appetizer in restaurants and households when some more formal dinner parties occurred but then it became old-fashioned (because some "big shot" chefs decided so...) and people forgot all about it... Lately, though, I notice that more and more often this delicious appetizer appears again in restaurant menus but also at buffet parties at home and I'm pleased because it is worth its fame! Retro dishes like this should never disappear because they don't lack at all in taste or looks and they can easily compete with other "gourmet" dishes which some try to convince us that we should have at our tables... 

Crispy kataifi pastry millefeuilles with feta cheese and salad - An elegant presentation of the famous Greek salad

A delicious and light recipe to serve as a first dish. An unusual version of a recipe well known worldwide which will manage to please your guests to the full! Crispy kataifi pastry (shredded pastry) replaces the classic puff pastry sheets to create this savoury millefeuille. The famous Greek salad presented in a totally new way but with its classic taste unspoilt!

Baked courgettes stuffed with fresh Myzithra cheese and herbs

This a great idea to serve as a first dish during the Summer months when the courgettes are at their best! Simple in ingredients and method and full of aromas and taste! Replace the fresh (sour) Myzithra cheese if you can't find it, with Anthotyro or other soft, semi-salted white cheese

Seasonal vegetables "Tourlou" with cheese enclosed in homemade pastry roll

All the flavours of seasonal vegetables and some spicy Greek cheese come together in this delicious recipe! The "Tourlou" ("Briam" if aubergines are not included) vegetarian dish which is one of the most popular Summer recipes around Greece is the idea of this rolled pie. The homemade pastry is really special and you should try it out because you can use it in various recipes but of course you can replace it with store-bought shortcrust pastry which is probably the closest to the original. It is really a very tasty dish this one and it can be served as a first dish or as a main along with seasonal salad. The cheese used here (Greek "Kefalograviera") might be a small problem but if you can't find any then use a semi-hard and semi-salted but rather pungent yellow cheese, something that doesn't melt too easily

Greek-style pasta gratin with 3 cheeses and creamy béchamel sauce

A delicious pasta recipe which can be served as a first dish or as a main if served along with a green salad. Simple but really rich in flavour ingredients and quite creamy thanks to the luscious béchamel sauce, this gratin will become a favourite meal of the family!

Mini savoury tiganites (pancakes) with beetroot dip and served with soft cheese dip

This is really a fun recipe! Ideal to serve it as a first dish, an appetizer or on a buffet table along with other finger-food dishes and it is suitable for all seasons. The original recipe asks for the special Greek white cheese "Katiki" from Domokos area in Central Greece. It is a soft (spreadable) white cheese made of goat and/or goat and ewe milk. It is popular because of its low levels in salt and fat and it is suitable to use it on salads, various dips, in savoury and sweet cheese fillings for pies etc. ** The best option to replace Katiki cheese is to use very soft, in texture, Feta mixed with a bit of yoghurt and beat until creamy or to use softened goat's cheese mixed with some milk

Feta cheese "saganaki" wrapped in crispy phyllo pastry, drizzled with beer & honey syrup

The traditional and famous Greek fried cheese appetizer this time all dressed up in phyllo pastry for extra crispiness! A delicious first or meze dish to enjoy any time of the year! The slightly thick beer and honey syrup gives extra flavour to the wrapped cheese and that semi-sweet taste. Good quality of Feta cheese is the secret here which though you can replace with Manouri cheese

Spicy fried green olives stuffed with herbs and Feta cheese - Great, all-season appetizer!

You'll definitely need large green olives for this recipe and my suggestion are those coming from the Halkidiki region which are well known abroad as well. I have even discovered them recently in a very nice rural farmers shop not faraway from Worcester, believe it or not!! It is a great idea to serve this recipe as an appetizer or first dish but also, as most of this kind of Greek food, at a buffet table. It is always better if you buy the olives whole and not pitted and do it then at home but I do appreciate the difficulty of doing this so it's up to you. *** No salt at all is needed in this recipe because both the olives and the cheeses have more than enough!

Fast and easy open sandwiches with creamy mayonnaise pesto, fresh tomato and anchovies for a great appetizer or snack!

Such an easy and tasty appetizer this one which can be served any time regardless the season! Great idea to treat your guests before a meal or to enjoy with your drinks when unexpected visitors arrive. Of course they can easily turn out into a proper sandwich for lunch! The quantity of the ingredients can be adjusted very easily to prepare as many as you need

Greek-style cauliflower gratin with creamy cheese sauce and cumin

A luscious and slightly different way of cooking the cauliflower in the oven with a nice aromatic crust on top. The classic "cauliflower au gratin" in the Greek way using Greek cheeses and cumin which gives an extra kick to the final result. A tasty recipe to serve as a first dish or to accompany various meat, poultry and even fish dishes

PUMPKIN SEASON : Pumpkin and eggs gratin with spring onions, herbs and cheese

Pumpkin, surely the star of this month for the Americans but very popular as well to other nations around the world during the cold Winter months. Quite a versatile vegetable since it can be used in so many sweet and savoury dishes. Like this gratin for example which you can serve as a first or side dish, or as a light meal for a tasty Sunday brunch. Easy to prepare and with nice and simple ingredients you can think of it as an oven omelette or a type of soufflé... It is really tasty and the rather distinctive taste and aroma of the pumpkin comes to a nice balance with the rest of the ingredients without dominating the final flavour 

PUMPKIN SEASON: Kolokoudi - Traditional savoury pumpkin fritters with tomato, cheese and sage

Another version of savoury pumpkin fritters which are a great idea to serve as an appetizer or even as a light meal along with a crispy salad. This recipe can be found in various Aegean islands with minor differences from place to place. For example, instead of sage you can use fresh spearmint. The few ingredients involved in this recipe work together very well and they become a really delicious seasonal dish

Fried "horn" green peppers in vinegar, lemon and oregano sauce

Sweet, green "horn" peppers are quite popular in Greek cuisine because they can be cooked with various ways and become a very tasty main or meze dish for everybody! Here we have another version of these peppers cooked as an appetizer (meze) and which can be served all year round. Again, just a few ingredients are enough and the result is delicious thanks to the sauce served along with the peppers

Courgettes, tomatoes and Manouri cheese gratin

Another dish before the Summer vegetables wave goodbye to us. A really delicious, as well as light, recipe which is perfect to serve as a first dish at one of your gatherings. Easy to put together with versatile and tasty ingredients! You can substitute the courgettes with aubergines or potatoes. Also, for an even lighter version you can use fresh Anthotyro or goat's cheese in the same amount. Beside the spearmint and the basil, the parsley is also suited to the recipe so it's up to you which combination you'd prefer better

Aubergines and Kefalotyri cheese gratin

Beautiful Greek Summer flavours gathered in one pan! This is what we could say for this recipe and I know I"m not wrong. I don't know many (at least Greek) people who don't like this dish either lukewarm served directly from the pan or even chilled from the fridge the next day! Two very popular ingredients are involved, aubergines and Kefalotyri cheese and both are honoured by the Greeks very often in various recipes. A couple of small tips for this recipe: choose a rather sweet and not too spicy or salty Kefalotyri cheese but if you can not find any then use Greek Graviera or Kefalograviera. For less calories and a not too oily taste, lightly dust the aubergine slices with flour and let them stand on plenty of kitchen paper the whole night before cooking. This little trick will help them not to absorb too much oil during frying which is the main problem with this tasty vegetable. One of the herbs I use in this dish is fresh spearmint which we really like in this house, but feel free to use basil instead because it suits the recipe just fine. The recipe can be served as a first or side dish or even as a main meal if accompanied by some salad and fresh bread

Double cooked aubergines stuffed with braised octopus in tomato sauce

Great Summer dish to enjoy two ingredients which are very popular in the Greek cuisine, the aubergines and the octopus. Things get easier since we use tinned octopus saving us plenty of time of preparation. A great idea to serve this recipe as a first dish or even as a main meal along with some crispy green salad

Cretan "Dakos" topped with fried egg

The traditional Cretan barley rusks this time with the addition of a fried egg on top to enjoy for breakfast, as a first dish or a light meal. Dakos traditionally is topped with Cretan "Xynomyzithra" cheese which is a European protected designation of origin cheese. It is a traditional, unpasteurized fresh cheese, a sour variant of "Myzithra". It is made with milk and whey from sheep and/or goats. The Xynomyzithra comes in various sizes and its shape is usually a truncated cone or ball. It is soft, snow-white, creamy and moist, with a sour taste

Cannelloni stuffed with mixed Summer vegies and feta cheese

I think that cannelloni must be one of the most popular varieties of pasta. They are so convenient (as more or less all types of pasta are to be fair) and there are so many different fillings you can use to fill them and the fact that usually are cooked in the oven makes them even more popular since you don't need to stand over a pot all the time... This version of stuffed cannelloni is full of Summer vegetables and no meat involved but still they are delicious! You can play with the herbs you can use for the filling or the cheese and use those you like better