Classic Greek family recipe

If you are a beginner cook, this real simple and scrumptious recipe will take all your friends to your kitchen table. The combination of meatballs with potatoes results in a complete dish, while the herbs give the dish an extra flavour and make it even better.

Ingredients

4 servings

Meatballs dough

500g medium ground beef

500g medium ground pork

1 egg

2 onion, finely grated

3 medium slices of day-old bread

1/2 cup red wine

3 tbsp olive oil

1 tsp dried oregano 

Black pepper

Salt

Roast Potatoes

6-7 medium potatoes

1 tbsp mustard

1 tsp oregano

Juice of 1 lemon

2 cups water

1/4 cup olive oil

1 clove garlic, roughly chopped

Salt

Pepper

Steps

Soak the slices of bread in wine for a minute or two. Strain and grade them by hand.

In a large bowl mix all meatballs ingredients with your hands until combined very well.

Put the bowl in the fridge.

Preheat oven to 200 ° C or 390 Fahrenheit.

Peel the potatoes and cut them into 4 even-sized pieces.

In another bowl add all potatoes ingredients except for water and combine them well to marinate the potatoes. 

Pour the water to a deep roasting tin (one big enough to take the potatoes in a single layer) and add the potatoes.

Cover the roasting tin with baking paper and cook for about 30 minutes. Remove the tin from the oven. Make large finger shape meatballs and line meatballs over potatoes. Cook for thirty minutes more without the paper.

Serve it with Greek Salad and Feta!

Spinach risotto!

A traditional vegan Greek recipe, healthy, easy-to-cook and dealicius!

Ingrediets

4 servings

2.2 lbs fresh spinach (1 kilo)

2/3 cup olive oil

1 med white onion, diced

4-5 spring onions chopped finally 

1-2 tbsp tomato paste or 1 tomato peeled and chopped

3/4 cup Arborio or Carnaroli rice

1/2 bunch dill finely chopped ( optional)

1/2 clove garlic or 1/2 teaspoon some garlic powder

juice of one lemon

3 cups warm water or warm stock

salt

freshly ground pepper

Directions

Clean spinach. Remove hard stems from spinach leaves. Slice spinach leaves widely. In a pot, add 3-4 tablespoons olive oil over medium - high heat. Add the diced onion and the choped spring onions to the pot and cook until translucent, then add the tomato paste or tomato and cook for a minute longer.

Add the rice to the pan and stir until it becomes translucent (about 2-3 minutes). Pour the lemon juice. Once the juice is absorbed, add the spinach and the chopped dill to sauté for 2 minutes. Continuously stir the rice so it doesn't stick to the pot. 

Add the warm water or stock and the remaining olive oil and bring it to boil. Salt, pepper and add the garlic. Then lower the heat and wait until the stock is almost completely absorbed (about 30 minutes). Serve it with parmesan or goat cheese.

Secret of god Aphrodite

Greek Debt to Gastronomy today cooks a traditional Greek dessert, baked quinces! Quinces are also called golden apples due to their color. In ancient Greee quince was associated with the god of love, Aphrodite that is why quinces were considered natural Aphrodisiacs!

Baked Quinces

4 servings 

2 quinces

1 cup sugar 

2 cinnamon sticks

2-3 whole cloves 

1/2 cup brandy

1/2 cup water

Preperation

Rinse quinces under water and rub hardly to remove any outer fuzz. Pat dry and use knife or peeler to remove the outer skin. With a knife cut each quince into quarters from stem end to bottom. Use the knife to carve out core and seeds. Pour the water and the brandy in a bowl. Dissolve the sugar in the bowl with the water. Place quince pieces, cloves and cinammon into a small deep baking dish and sprinkle them with the sugar mixture. 

Bake in a preheated 360-degree F (170 degrees C) oven for about an hour, turning the quinces once. The quinces should be fork tender and golden brown. The water and sugar should have cooked down to a syrup. Serve plain or with whipped cream! How about ice cream? 

A RECIPE TO KEEP YOU WARM

18 of November is arrived and it is cold. One really popular Greek dish in the winter time to keep you warm is noodles with chicken legs and tomato sauce!

Ingredients

4 servings

1/2 kg. wide noodles (or Greek xylopites)

4 chicken legs

1/2 cup sun-dried red wine

1 dried bay leaf

3-4 tablespoons olive oil

1 chopped onion

2 carrots

2 green peppers

1 sprig of fresh oregano

5 ripe tomatoes

Salt

Freshly ground pepper

Cinnamon powder

Dried oregano

Process

In a skillet, heat the olive oil over medium heat. When the oil is hot, add the chicken legs and cook them for 10 minutes. Then add the chopped onion and let it go translucent. Peel the carrots and chop finely. Add the carrots to the skillet. Stir occasionally with a wooden spoon to keep the vegetables from sticking to the bottom of the skillet. Pour the sun-dried wine and wait until it evaporates.

Place the tomatoes in boiling water for 30 seconds. Τhen remove them from the hot water and rinse them with cold water. This process will help you to peel the tomatoes easily. After peeling the tomatoes, chop the tomatoes. Chop the peppers too and add them to the mixture. Add the bay leaf. Salt and pepper. Season with oregano and cinnamon (Note that too much oregano and cinnamon make foods taste bitter.) Pour 2 cups warm water in the skillet, cover with the lid and let it boil for an hour over medium heat. 

Boil noodles in salted water. When they are ready, drain them and (optionally) sprinkle them with  olive oil.

Place the noodles and the chicken drumsticks on a serving plate. Add some sauce and garnish with a fresh sprig of oregano.

Tips

• If the water has evaporated before the chicken is boiled, just add some hot water.
• If you do not have sun-dried red wine you can use another type of red wine but I definitely recommend the sun-dried wine!