Spetzofai, weird name, greeek taste!

Another traditional recipe today, coming from the mountain of the Centaurus, Mt Pelion (remember from the greek mythology the half men half horses?) We combine the sausages with a spicy tomato sauce and peppers with eggplants to make this dish that is called in greek "spetzofai".
It's tasty and according to your style can be used as main dish or as a starter. Here it goes...


Ingredients
some fresh beef sausages (country sausages in Greece) if you like spicy food, choose something spicy, here spanish chorizo sausage
peppers (green bell peppers in Greece, but anything that you can find could do :)
1-2 eggplants
2 potatoes (optionally, especially if you have kids)
2 tomatoes or the equivalent can tomatoes
salt, pepper, olive oil

Procedure

Prepare the vegetables and cut them in big parts. Cut also the sausages in slices or as is if they are small. I live in France, so impossible to find the exact sausages for the recipe, so I use french "diots de savoie" sausages and a spanish chorizo sausage.

 Start by frying slightly the sausages, take them aside and continue by frying again slightly the vegetables.

 Once done, put ALL the ingredients in a low casserole, add water up to half of them, cover and let simmer for about 45min or until it ends up with a nice thick sauce.
Serve with a glass of red wine!

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Milk pie (galatopita)

"Galatopita" is the greek name for this pie that can be translated literally to "milk pie" and which is actually a cream pie.
If you have kids at home they will love it! Keep some of the cream and serve it to small bowls with cinnamon on top and you will drive them crazy :)))

and they will be more patient for the final result... the full pie!

Ingredients
6-7 layers of "filo" pastry
1 lt of milk
2/3 cup of sugar
1 cup of flour (approximately) + some corn flour 
3 eggs
vanilla flavor
2 spoonfuls of butter
Olive oil
some cinnamon

Procedure
Put in a small casserole the milk, add the sugar, the vanilla and the flours. Boil in medium fire and mix continuously until it starts to thicken enough.







Take out of the fire, add the butter, mix well and then add the eggs that you have previously beaten well as for an omelet. Mix once again and your cream is ready. (Here is the time, if you have kids to take some out in a bowl and give it to the kids ...)





Oil a big oven tray (quite deep) and put the layers of filo by adding a few "lines" of olive oil to each one of the them and by letting them about 5cm hanging out of the tray all around (see the photos).
Roll the exceeding filo all around to create a barrier and empty the cream inside it.

Sprinkle as much cinnamon as you like :) on top.
Bake in the oven at 180 degrees of Celsius and fan for about 30min or until it gets a nice color.

    

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Hearty lentil soup!

Full of proteins, vegetarian and so yummy, lentil soup today! Recipe coming directly from Greece, traditional and so healthy that despite the sunny days in my place and the temperatures that have rose high I decided to do it. No-one complained :)




  


Ingredients
500gr of lentils (bio, if it's possible and the best quality that you can find)
2 carrots
1 big onion
2 garlic cloves
1 bay leaf
salt, pepper, oregano
1/2 cup of good olive oil
2 red tomatoes or equivalent tomato sauce
1 spoonful of good vinegar

Procedure
Start by emptying the lentils in a big tray and check little by little all of it to be sure that there is nothing else in there. Once done, put the lentils in a big casserole with enough water to cover them and boil them for a few minutes. Drain the lentils and add once again water up to half the casserole and put it back to fire.
Add the carrots in slices, the minced onion and the smashed garlic and the rest of the ingredients. Cook in medium fire for about 45min or until the lentils are quite soft.
Serve the soup warm together with good bread (whole grain would be great) and accompany with olives, feta cheese or even tuna.

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Home-burgers with vegetables in the oven

Remember my home-burgers? Or the delicious keftedakia? With the same way and the same unbeatable taste, but in a different shape, enjoy them today in the oven with potatoes, mushrooms and peppers.







So, in addition to the ingredients that you will find in the recipe for the home-burgers, get the following:
Ingredients
4-5 potatoes
1 green pepper
a few white mushrooms (paris)
salt, pepper, oregano, olive oil
juice of a lemon
Procedure
Start by putting in a big oven pan the potatoes (peeled and cut in thick slices), the mushrooms and the green pepper (also in slices). Add salt, pepper, oregano and olive oil.

 In a bowl, prepare the home-burgers and make them as shown in the photo below. Make space in between the vegetables and put the burgers. Add enough water to almost cover the potatoes and add the lemon juice all over. Cook in the oven at 180 degrees of Celsius for about 1h30min. If needed, at some point of the cooking, turn upside down the burgers to get a nice color all over.
Hmmmm... delicious!  

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Oh, Pancakes!

Starting the day with pancakes! Oh, my! Honestly, it is so easy that you can indulge your dear ones often with this... No need to count the ingredients, just improvise!


  

Mix a few eggs (like 2-3), milk (or yoghurt) and add enough flour (+some baking powder) to make a dough not too liquid not too think. For a special touch, choose a flavored yoghurt instead of milk and instead of plain flour add some part of corn flour. That's it!

Use a pan like the one for "crepes", oil it slightly and pour small doses of the dough and cook it in both sides.

Your pancakes are ready to enjoy using your imagination. I prefer good honey and cinnamon, up to you to decide for this :)

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Croziflette, savoy specialty!

Croziflette today, a traditional french recipe and special tribute to the french region known for the Alpes mountains, Savoy! It's a twist from "tartiflette" that is made with potatoes, while this one is made with a special type of pasta that is called "crozet" that has the shape of tiny squares. It is not a dish that is low in calories, but it is a perfect dish for apres-ski after spending a full day in the slopes. So, ski maniacs all around the globe, this is for you :)
If you cannot find crozets, you can replace it with any small pasta.


Ingredients
400 gr crozets (better to mix half natural and half buckwheat)
1 big onion finely sliced 
200gr cured ham ("lardons")
300ml fresh butter cream
reblochon cheese
salt, white pepper, olive oil


Procedure
Boil the crozets in a big quantity of water as indicated in the box. Drain and empty in a medium pyrex.

Fry the onion with some olive oil and in the middle add the ham and continue until they all get a nice color.

Pour over the crozets, add the creme, the salt and the pepper and mix with a spoon.

 Cut the cheese in thick sliced and put evenly on top. Put in the oven in 180 Celsius for about 10min or until the cheese will create a nice crust on top. Serve with a green salad. Bon appetit!

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