GREEK TARTS, PIES, AU GRATIN AND PASTA DISHES

                                             MUSHROOM TART

A delightful, creamy tart.  Preheat oven to 180C (350 F).

Pastry:

210 g (7 oz) plain flour

Salt to taste

105 g (6 ½ oz) butter, at room temperature

1 large egg

1 tbsp water

Filling :

500 g (1 lb) mushrooms

1 garlic clove, mashed1 small onion, grated

1 tbsp butter or olive oil

1 tbs cornflour

180 g (6 oz) grated Parmesan

1 tbsp parsley, finely chopped

Salt, freshly ground black pepper and nutmeg to taste

3 eggs

125 ml (½ cup) milk

125 ml (½ cup) light cream

  

First, prepare the pastry, mix flour and salt well together and rub in the butter until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.  Add the egg and enough water to have a soft, pliable dough.  Gather into a ball, cover and ice for 30 minutes at least.  Then roll out the dough, thinly, and line a buttered tart dish and prick the pastry all over with a fork, cover with tin foil and dried beans and bake for 15-18 minutes until sides begin to brown.  Discard foil and beans.

Meanwhile, prepare the filling.  Chop the mushrooms and sauté them in butter with the garlic and onion, stirring frequently until they release all the moisture and become brown, about 10 minutes.  Stir in the chopped parsley.

Whisk the cream and milk with the eggs, stir in salt, pepper and nutmeg.  Sprinkle the pastry shell with half the grated Parmesan.  Spoon the filling evenly over, sprinkle with the remaining Parmesan and bake for 30-35 minutes.  Remove from the oven and allow to cool before serving.

                                  COURGETTES CARROT AND CHEESE QUICHE

This is a quiche beyond words.  You could prepare individual quiches if you prefer. 

Pastry:

100 g butter at room temperature

  50 g feta cheese, crumbled

  50 g Parmesan, finely grated

180 g self-rising flour

Filling:

100 g bland kasseri or Gouda grated

100 g Parmesan, grated

2 medium-sized courgettes, thickly grated

2 medium-sized carrots, thinly grated

2 spring onions, finely sliced

1 tbsp finely chopped dill

4 eggs, separated

250 ml (1 cup) light cream

Freshly ground black pepper to taste

Start preparing the pastry.  Place all the ingredients in a mixer and blend until the mixture forms a ball around the pastry hook. Cover and ice for 30 minutes at least.  Then roll out thinly and line a buttered tart dish.  Prick the pastry all over with a fork, cover  with tin foil and beans and bake blind, in an oven preheated to 180 C (350 F) for about 12 minutes,  discard the foil and beans and bake for 7 minutes more and let it cool.

Meanwhile, mix the two types of cheese and place them into the pastry case and scatter the grated courgettes, carrots, spring onions and dill evenly over.

Beat the egg whites with a pinch of salt until stiff.  Mix the egg yolks with the cream and freshly ground black pepper until well combined. Then fold the egg whites into the yolk mixture and pour evenly over the cheese, not the pastry.

Bake for 35-40 minutes until puffed and golden brown and serve hot with a green salad and crusty brown bread.

                                 CRETAN FENNEL AND CHEESE PIE

This is a delicious Cretan pie.

Crust:

300 g (10 oz) plain flour

1 tsp salt

125 ml (½ cup) mild-tasting olive oil or sunflower oil, if preferred

4 tbsp of raki or tsikoudia

1 egg yolk, reserving the white for later, mixed with

2 tbsp milk

2 tbsp toasted sesame seeds

Filling:

1 kg (2 lb) fennel bulbs, trimmed, thinly sliced and boiled until soft in tasty vegetable stock, strain and reserve both

Freshly ground black pepper to taste

3 tbsp olive oil

500 g (1 lb) Cretan anthotyro grated or ricotta cheese

1 cup finely grated Cretan Graviera

Béchamel sauce made with:

(30 g (1 oz) butter

1 bay leaf

30 g (1 oz) plain flour

300 ml (10 fl oz) of the fennel bulb stock

1 tbsp chopped dill

2 eggs, separated, whites whipped stiff with the tiniest pinch of salt + the extra white from the dough

Salt if necessary

First, prepare the dough.  Sift the flour with salt in a large bowl, add 4 tbsp of olive oil, the raki or tsikoudia and 125 ml (½ cup) water and knead into a soft elastic dough.   Divide it into six pieces, cover and set aside for 1 hour.

Meanwhile, in a large bowl, mix all the filling ingredients except the whipped egg whites and salt, well together.  Then gently fold in the whipped egg whites.  Taste, and add more salt if necessary.

Form the six pieces of dough into balls.   Roll out each ball of dough, thinly, into a round, brush with olive oil and make two stacks.

 Roll out the first stack of round pasty sheets and line an oiled round baking tin.  Spoon in the filling, and level the surface, cover with remaining round pastry sheet and crimp the edges, attractively, together. 

    

With a sharp knife, brush the top with the egg yolk/milk mixture, sprinkle evenly with toasted sesame seeds and bake in an oven preheated to 180 C (350 F) for about 1 hour or until golden brown.  Serve hot. 

                                             SPINACH AU GRATIN

A delightful first dish.

1 kg fresh spinach

Bechamel sauce* (please see recipe below)

90 g (3 oz) kephalotyri, San Mihalis or Parmesan, grated

2 tbsp butter + extra for the dish

Salt and freshly ground white pepper to taste

Freshly grated nutmeg to taste

120 g (4 oz) mild-tasting feta, sliced into slivers

1-2 tbsp dried breadcrumbs

1/8 tsp Cayenne pepper

Trim, wash and dry the spinach, place in a saucepan (it should not require any water) and simmer for 5 minutes.  Strain, squeeze and chop roughly and mix with 1 tsp of melted butter, 1 cup of bechamel and a little grated cheese, reserving 2 tbsp or later, and season with salt, pepper and nutmeg.

Pour half the mixture into a buttered ovenproof dish and cover sparingly with the feta slivers.  Arrange the rest of the spinach over and spread the remaining bechamel evenly over the spinach.  Sprinkle with dry bread crumbs and the remaining Parmesan, dot with butter and bake in an oven preheated to 180C (350 F) for ½ an hour or until puffed and golden.

                                                BECHAMEL SAUCE

A classical sauce which, is essential for cooking.

2 tbsp butter

2 tbsp plain flour

1 bay leaf

500 ml (2 cups) hot milk

Salt, freshly ground white pepper and

Grated nutmeg to taste

(4 tbsp grated cheese and 2 eggs, separated whites whipped to soft peaks)

Melt the butter in a saucepan, over low heat add the flour and the bay leaf and stir or 2-3 minutes,  add the warm milk gradually, stirring constantly until the sauce bubbles and thickens about 5-7 minutes.  Discard the bay leaf and season with salt pepper and nutmeg and cover with cling film to prevent it from forming a crust.

When the sauce is tepid, you could add grated cheese and the separated eggs to enrich it   

                                                  PASTA CON UOVA

To make 375 g (¾ lb) handmade pasta dough.

180 g plain flour

1 egg

1 egg white

¾ tbs corn oil

½ tsp salt

A few drops of water

Place the flour into a large bowl, make a well in the centre and put in the egg, egg white, corn oil and salt.   Mix together with a fork until the dough can be gathered into a ball.   Moisten any remaining dry bits of flour with drops of water and press them into a ball.   Knead the dough on a floured surface for about 10 minutes until smooth and elastic adding extra flour if the dough seems sticky.

Wrap the dough with cling film and allow to rest for half an hour, at least.

                                               STUFFED CANNELLONI

Pasta tubes, filled with meat, spinach and baked in a béchamel sauce.

Pasta dough (Please see recipe above)

Water and salt

On a floured surface, roll out the dough until paper thin.   Then, cut the pastry sheet into rectangles 5.2 x 7.62 cm.   Bring the salted water to the boil and drop in the pieces of pasta and stir gently with a wooden spoon to prevent them from sticking to each other.  Bring to the boil, over high heat, and cook the pasta, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes or until the pasta is cooked al dente.  Drain, then cool slightly and spread the pasta on a paper towel to dry.

Filling:

5 tsp olive oil

45 g (1½ oz) finely chopped onions

2 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped

300 g (10 oz) cooked spinach, squeezed dry and finely chopped

30 g (1 oz) butter

500 g (1 lb) beef, minced twice

60 g (2 oz) grated Parmesan

30 ml (1 liquid  oz) double cream

2 eggs, lightly beaten

2 saltspoons dried oregano, crumbled

Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Parmesan cheese, grated 

Sauté the onion and garlic in olive oil, stirring often, for 7-8 minutes until they are soft but not brown.   Stir in the spinach and cook stirring constantly for 3-4 minutes.   When all the moister has boiled away and the spinach sticks lightly to the saucepan transfer it to a large bowl. 

Sauté the minced meat in 15 g (1 oz) butter, stirring constantly to break up any lumps. And add it to the onion and spinach mixture.  Also add the Parmesan, cream and oregano.   Mix the ingredients thoroughly together.  Taste and season with salt and pepper.

Place a piece of pasta on a plate and place 2 tbsp of meat and spinach filling in the middle, roll it up and arrange a buttered Pyrex.  Do exactly the same with the remaining pieces of pasta and filling until all the ingredients are prepared into pasta rolls and the pyrex is full.


Cover with bechamel sauce (Pleased see recipe above) sprinkle with Parmesan and bake in an oven preheated at180 C (350 F) for 30 minutes until puffed and golden brown