Oyster Tagliatelle

 

 

 

Ingredients:

 

12 large oysters

55g/2oz butter
200 grams tagliolini pasta
2 tablespoon white wine vinegar
1/2 lemon juice
1 bunch of chives, chopped
salt
ground black pepper

How to cook:

Boil the salted water and add the pasta. Cook according to packet instructions. Drain the cooked pasta.

Open the oysters with an oyster knife and scoop the oysters' flesh out of the shell. Cut them in half and put them back in their own water, taking care not to leave any bits of shell in the oyster water.

Melt the butter in a pan, add the drained pasta. Then add the oysters, the chives, vinegar and lemon. Stir for a couple of minutes, just to warm the oysters up. Add more butter if needed. Kali oreksi!

 

Lamb Cannelloni

Ingredients:

450 grams minced lamb
1 onion peeled, sliced
1 garlic clove, peeled, crushed
2 tablespoon tomato puree
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon grated nutmeg
1 tablespoon fresh parsley
1 tablespoon chopped fresh mint
1 red chili, finely chopped
Lasagne sheets blanched, drained

For the topping:

125 grams ricotta
125 grams Greek-style yoghurt
4 free-range eggs
freshly grated nutmeg, to taste

How to cook:

Preheat the oven to 200C. Fry the lamb mince in a frying pan over a medium heat, turning frequently, for 4-5 minutes. Remove the lamb from the pan and set aside.

Fry the onion and garlic in the frying pan used to brown the lamb for 4-5 minutes. Stir in the cooked lamb and tomato purée and cook for a further 4-5 minutes. Stir in the spices and cook for a further 3-4 minutes. Stir in the fresh herbs and chilli.

Spoon some of lamb along the long edge of a sheet of pasta, roll the pasta up into a cylinder and place into a greased ovenproof dish. Repeat with the remaining lamb mince and pasta sheets.

For the topping, mix the ricotta, Greek-style yoghurt and eggs together in a bowl until well combined. Spoon the mixture on top of the lamb rolls and season, to taste, with grated nutmeg.

Bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes. Kali oreksi!

Seafood Lasagna

Ingredients:

1 teaspoon oil
4 courgettes, sliced lengthways
1 red chilli, finely chopped
½ x 680ml jar passata with onion and garlic
400 grams seafood mix
4 lasagne sheets, halved
3 tablespoons Parmesan, grated
3 tablespoons dried breadcrumbs
Parsley, to serve

How to cook: 

Heat a griddle and brush a little oil on the courgettes. Cook in batches until lightly charred. Season and scatter on the chilli, then set aside. 

Heat oven to 200 degrees. Pour a little passata in a medium-sized ovenproof dish. Place half the seafood over it, then season and top with a third of the courgettes. Top with 2 sheets of pasta, then more tomato sauce, seafood, courgettes, another layer of pasta, more tomato sauce and finish with the rest of the courgettes. Mix the Parmesan and breadcrumbs, then scatter on top and cook for 25-30 minutes until golden. Season with parsley. Kali oreksi!

Crab Linguine

Ingredients:

100 grams linguine

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 garlic cloves, sliced

2 tablespoons crème

100 grams tub white crabmeat

rocket, chopped

Zest 1/2 lemon

1 tablespoon toasted pine nuts

How to cook:

Cook the linguine according to the directions on the package. 

Heat the olive oil in a pan. Add the garlic and cook gently to soften. Stir in the crème, crabmeat, chopped rocket, lemon zest and gently heat through.

Tip in the cooked pasta and a little cooking liquid to help the sauce coat the pasta. Season and give everything a stir. Sprinkle with the pine nuts and remaining rocket leaves.

• 
  

Spagetti Bolognese

    Ingredients:

• 
  
  1 tablespoon olive oil
• 200grams minced meat
• 1 onion, fiinely chopped
• 1 carrot, grated
  400 grams tomatoes, chopped
• 230ml vegetable stock
• 2 tablespoons tomato puree
• ½ teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 300 grams wholemeal spagetti
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
  
  
  How to cook: 
  
  
  Heat the olive oil in a saucepan. Add the onion and cook for five minutes, stirring occasionally, until they are pink and soft. Then add the minced meat and cook until it is browned. Add mushrooms and carrot, cook for  2-3 minutes, then add the tomatoes, vegetable stock, tomato purée, Worcestershire sauce and freshly ground black pepper. Stir well and bring to the boil, then reduce the heat to simmer for 15-20 minutes, until the sauce has thickened.
  
  
  Place the wholemeal spaghetti in salted boiling water and cook for 8 minutes. After your spagetti is ready, serve with Bolognese sauce. You can also add parsley on top. Kali oreksi!

Linguine with Shrimps

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups tomatoes

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

1 teaspoon thyme leaves

Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

300 grams linguine

1 cup(s) heavy cream

300 grams large shrimp, shelled, deveined and halved lengthwise

2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice

1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest

1 tablespoon chopped parsley

Directions

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. In a skillet, toss the tomatoes with the olive oil and thyme and season with salt and pepper. Roast the tomatoes for about 20-25 minutes, until their skins split.

In a pot of boiling salted water, cook the linguine until al dente; drain.

Add the cream to the tomatoes and bring to a simmer. Cook over moderate heat, gently crushing the tomatoes, until the cream thickens, about 3 minutes. Add the shrimp and simmer about 2 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Add the linguine to the skillet along with the lemon juice and toss over low heat until the pasta is coated, about 1 minute. Add the lemon zest and parsley and toss. Kali oreksi!

Ravioli with Pesto, Squash and Sage

Ingredients:

225 grams butternut squash, peeled, cut into dice

340 grams large cheese ravioli

1/4 cup pesto sauce

2 tablespoons olive oil

16 sage leaves

1/4 cup walnut pieces, toasted

1/4 cup grated fresh Parmesan cheese

How to cook: 

Heat a saucepan of salted water to boiling. Add squash to cook 4 to 5 minutes. Scoop out with a small strainer. When water returns to a boil, add ravioli and cook according to package directions. Drain pasta; toss with pesto sauce. Meanwhile, nonstick skillet, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil. Add squash, sprinkle with kosher salt and freshly ground pepper, and cook, stirring, about 5 minutes. Remove squash and put in a bowl. Add 1 tablespoon olive oil to the same skillet and cook sage leaves until crisp, 30 seconds to 1 minute. Drain on paper towels.Spoon squash over ravioli and garnish with walnuts and sage. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Kali oreksi!

Penne Primavera with Avocado

Ingredients:

400 grams penne pasta

1 1/2 cups small broccoli florets

1 carrot, thinly sliced

1 small zucchini

1/2 cup raw cashews, soaked overnight and drained

2 garlic cloves, crushed

1 cup hot vegetable broth or just water

1 to 2 ripe avocados, halved and pitted

2 scallions, chopped

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1/2 teaspoon salt

Ground black pepper

Almond milk, if you like of course

1 cup grape tomatoes, halved lengthwise

1/3 cup chopped fresh basil leaves or parsley

Whole fresh basil leaves, for garnish

How to cook:

Cook the penne in a large pot of salted boiling water, about 10 minutes. In 5th minute, add the broccoli and carrots. In 8th minute, add the zucchini. Drain the cooked pasta and vegetables well and return to the pot.

While the pasta is cooking, combine the drained cashews, garlic, and broth in a high-speed blender or food processor. Process until smooth and well blended. Peel and pit the avocado and add it to the food processor along with the scallions, lemon juice, salt, and pepper to taste. Process until smooth and creamy. For a thinner sauce, add some almond milk, if needed. For a thicker sauce, add additional avocado. 

Add the sauce to the pot containing the drained cooked pasta and vegetables. Add the tomatoes and chopped basil and toss gently to combine. Serve immediately, garnished with the whole basil leaves. Kali oreksi!

Spinach & Artichoke Tortellini

Ingredients:

300 grams spinach, thawed and drained

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 tablespoon butter

3 garlic cloves, chopped

1 small onion, grated

2 tablespoons flour

1 cup chicken broth

1 cup heavy cream

1/8 teaspoon nutmeg

400 grams water-packed artichoke hearts, drained and chopped

1 cup grated parmesan cheese

500 grams cheese tortellini

How to cook: 

Heat the skillet with the oil and butter. When butter melts, add garlic and grated onion. Saute for 5 minutes. Sprinkle the flour into the skillet and cook for 1 minute. Whisk in the broth, then the cream and bring to a bubble. Season the sauce with nutmeg and reduce heat to low. Separate spinach into pieces as you add it to the sauce. Stir in the artichokes and cheese and season to taste with salt and pepper. Cook the tortellini in salted boiling water, about 7 minutes. Drain and toss with the spinach artichoke sauce. Serve immediately with additional grated cheese and diced tomatoes, if you want. Kali oreksi!

Sea Food Linguine

Ingredients:

225 grams whole-wheat linguine or spaghetti

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

4 cloves garlic, chopped

1 tablespoons chopped shallot

1 can diced tomatoes, drained

1/2 cup white wine

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

12 littleneck or small cherrystone clams, scrubbed

225 grams dry sea scallops

225 grams tilapia or other flaky white fish, strips

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

How to cook:

Cook pasta inside boiling water for 8 minutes, or according to package directions. Drain but do not rinse. I never rinse. 

Heat oil in a large skillet. Add garlic and shallot and cook, stirring, until beginning to soften, about 1 minute. Add tomatoes, wine, salt and pepper. Bring to a simmer and cook for 1 minute. Add clams, cover, and cook for 2 minutes. Stir in scallops, fish, and marjoram. Cover until the scallops and fish are cooked through and the clams have opened, 3 to 5 minutes more. (Do not use any clams that don't open.)

Spoon the sauce and clams over the pasta and sprinkle with additional marjoram and Parmesan.

Chicken and Artichoke Ravioli with Roasted Garlic Cream Sauce

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons olive oil


3 cloves garlic,

minced
 2/3 cup shredded asiago cheese


2/3 cup shredded mozzarella


 Artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
(you can put as much as you like)

200 grams cooked diced chicken


Salt & pepper to taste



1 egg, beaten

How to cook: 

In a skillet cook the garlic in the oil. Add the artichoke hearts and sauté until soft.Add chicken and season with salt and pepper.Set aside and let the mixture cool.

When they become cold, combine artichoke mixture, mozzarella, and asiago cheese in a food processor.Lay out 1/2 of the wonton skins and place the filling in center of each skin. Brush edges with beaten egg.Top with another wonton skin and crimp edges firmly with ravioli cutter.Drop gently into boiling water and cook until tender, like 5 minutes.

Ingredients of Roasted Garlic Cream Sauce:


8 cloves of roasted garlic,

1/2 tablespoons butter


1 cup heavy cream


1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese

How to cook the garlic sauce:

Melt butter in frypan and sauté the roasted garlic for 1 minute. Slowly add heavy cream and bring to a simmer. Stir in parmesan cheese and continue to mix.

Put ravioli on plate and top with sauce. Garnish with fresh parmesan cheese. Kali oreksi!

Pumpkin Cannelloni with Butter Sauce

Ingredients:

700 grams pumpkin, peeled, seeded, and chopped

1 1/2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

3 large garlic cloves, chopped

1/2 cups ricotta

1/2 cups grated Parmesan

1 1/2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh sage, plus 4 large whole leaves

1/4 teaspoons salt, plus more to taste

1/2 teaspoons freshly ground pepper

1 package lasagna sheets

6 tablespoons unsalted butter

How to cook:

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Place pumpkin, along with 3/4 cup water, in a skillet. Cover and steam until tender, 20 minutes. Remove to a bowl and mash until smooth.

Heat 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil in a skillet and sauté garlic until golden. Transfer garlic to a mortar and pestle, then crush to a paste. Add cheeses, chopped sage, salt, pepper, and garlic paste into mashed pumpkin. Set aside.

Cook lasagna sheets about 2 minutes in boling water. Transfer to a plate and drizzle with olive oil to prevent pasta from sticking together. Reserve 1/4 cup pasta water.

Liberally brush a medium baking dish with oil. Place a lasagna sheet on a clean work surface. Add 4 tablespoons pumpkin mixture to center of lasagna, roll into a cannelloni tube, then transfer to prepared baking dish. Repeat with remaining sheets.

Pour reserved pasta water over lasagna and cover tightly with foil. Bake until heated through and pasta is tender, 20 to 25 minutes. Cook butter and sage leaves in small skillet over until golden-brown. Drizzle over pumpkin cannelloni and serve immediately. Kali oreksi!

Ricotta and Spinach filled Ravioli

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cup flour

1 egg

1/4 cup hot water

1/4 teaspoon salt

Mix flour with salt. Stir water with egg until well mixed. In a bowl, combine flour and egg-water mixture together and mix until well incorporated.  Knead the dough until well-textured and firm.  The dough should not be too wet or too sticky.  It should only stick to itself, but not to your hands.  However, it should not be too dry,  either.   Make the dough into a ball, cover with plastic wrap. Let the dough stand for 1 hour at room temperature before using.  This allows gluten to work.  You will be using this dough in the instructions that follow below:

Ingredients for spinach and ricotta cheese ravioli filling:

1 tbsp olive oil


1 big package spinach (20 oz)


1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese


3/4 cup ricotta cheese


1/4 tsp salt

Ingredients for tomato cream sauce:

1 tbsp olive oil


2 big tomatoes


2 garlic cloves


5 sprigs thyme or more


1/4 cup white wine


1/2 cup heavy cream


20 grape tomatoes,

Salt

How to make ravioli cheese filling:

Heat olive oil on medium heat, add spinach and cook covered, stirring occasionally, until spinach wilted, about 15 minutes. Cook for 5 or 10 more minutes uncovered until all liquid evaporates.

Chop cooked spinach finely and move to a bowl. Add Parmesan cheese and ricotta cheese, salt to taste and mix well.  Add more salt if necessary.

Divide the ravioli dough into 2 equal halves and roll each half into a very thin sheet with a rolling pin.  Make sure to have flour on hand and dust the working surface or rolling pan when necessary, because the dough will be sticky. It’s important that the ravioli dough be rolled very thinly (paper-thin), otherwise ravioli will be too solid when cooked, because dough expands during cooking. Also it will be really hard to use the ravioli mold if the dough is not thin enough.

Once you rolled sheets of dough, shape individual raviolis. To shape ravioli, I use a very handy device, Ravioli mould/tray, which works great! I purchased it at William-Sonoma, you can see the picture of it below:

Here is how to use Ravioli mould:

dust the working tray with flour, lay a thin layer of pastry on the tray

press in the holes, fill the holes with the filling, without overfilling, cover with another layer of ravioli dough, which should lay flat all the way across the mould, using the rolling pins or your fingers, press, close and cut the ravioli, overturn the tray to let the ravioli come out.

When you are done shaping ravioli, bring a big pot of water to boil, add ravioli and cook for 5 minutes, then drain. Or, alternatively, freeze ravioli until you’re ready to cook them.

How to make tomato cream sauce:


Heat olive oil in a pan over medium heat.  Chop tomatoes and garlic and add to the pan.  Cook covered for about 10 minutes until tomatoes soften.

Add white wine and chopped thyme.  Bring to boil and cook uncovered for 5 more minutes until half of liquid evaporates.  Remove from heat, let it cool for a bit. Then transfer to blender and puree the tomato mixture.  Transfer the puree back to the pan, reheat to medium heat and add heavy cream.  Stir until well incorporated.

Cut each grape tomato in half and add all of them to the pan with the tomato cream sauce.   Salt to taste and and more chopped thyme if needed.  Cook for 5 more minutes.

To serve, add cooked ravioli to the sauce at the last minute.  Allow both ravioli and the sauce achieve same temperature.   When serving on plates, garnish with thyme.

Fettuccine Alfredo

Ingredients:

500 grams dried fettuccine pasta

6 tablespoons unsalted butter

2 tablespoons of minced onion

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 cup heavy cream

1 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

fresh parsley, for garnish

How to cook:

Bring a large pot of water to boil and cook the fettuccine in boiling salted water until al dente, like 8 minutes. Drain and reserve 1/4 cup of the pasta cooking liquid. You can actually reserve more than 1/4 cup of the pasta water in case you need to thin up the sauce later.

While the pasta is cooking, melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add 2 tablespoons of minced onion and minced garlic and saute until tender. Add 1 cup heavy cream and bring to a boil. Cook for a minute. Remove from the heat.

Add the pasta + 1/4 cup reserved pasta cooking liquid to the saucepan with the butter-cream sauce. Add the butter-cream mixture and half of the Parmesan cheese (1/2 cup) and toss to combine thoroughly – over medium heat. Stir the sauce constantly so that it doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pan. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Sprinkle with remaining Parmesan and garnish with parsley, if desired. Serve immediately. Kali oreksi!

Pastichio

This is one of my favorite Greek foods. I am going to write you the recipe but you should try it from my mother's hands :)

Ingredients:

For the meat sauce: 

200 grams ground lamb (or ground beef)
1 cup chopped onions
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup dry red wine
1/4 cup tomato paste
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1 tomato, chopped with their liquid
kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the bechamel:

1/2 cup butter
1 cup flour
4 cups whole milk
1 cup freshly grated Parmesan
3 egg yolks
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the pasta:

500 grams pasta, such as ziti or penne
3 tablespoons olive oil
3 egg whites
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan

How to cook meat sauce:

Preheat the oven to 375. Heat a few tablespoons of olive oil in a large skillet and add the onions and saute about 5-7 minutes. Add the ground lamb and cook until  browned all the way through. Increase heat to high, pour in the red wine, and allow to simmer until the red wine has cooked out. Stir in the tomato paste, cinnamon, and allspice. Add the tomatoes with their juices, reduce heat, and simmer the sauce for thirty minutes, mixing occasionally.

How to cook bechamel:

Melt the butter in a saucepan. Add the flour and whisk until smooth, about one minute. Add the milk and continue to cook until the sauce is thick and coats the back of the spoon, about 5 - 8 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in the parmesan and egg yolks. Season with salt and pepper.

How to cook pasta:

Cook the noodles until just barely al dente, like 8 minutes. Drain and toss with olive oil. Fold in the egg whites and Parmesan until well mixed.

In a casserole dish with tall sides, layer half of the noodle mixture in the bottom of the dish, covering the bottom completely. Spread the entire amount of meat sauce over the noodle layer. Spread remaining noodles over the meat sauce. Pour a thick layer of bechamel on top of the noodles, to the top of the casserole dish.

Bake the casserole until the top is puffy and golden brown, about 45 minutes. Kali oreksi!