Beetroot hummus with spicy, crunchy roasted chickpeas

When I get the flu, a cold and the like, I usually am a pretty calm and patient person. I sit on the couch with my hot cup of tea and a big packet of tissues and I’m as quiet as a mouse.

As the days pass and the damn cold, flu etc. refuses to go away no matter how many glasses of freshly squeezed orange juice I have drank or how many soups I’ve eaten, well, then things change just a tiny bit.

I gradually become more and more impatient, I get cranky and a real bitch sometimes, every little thing bothers me and S needs to have nerves of steel to be able to cope with me.

Until the moment when I get noticeably better, I’m not ashamed to admit, the nagging goes on and on. In the case, however, that S is the one with the flu, then the nagging begins on day one, but that’s how it goes, doesn’t it? You have to accept the person you are with along with all of their flaws, because if you can’t handle or stand their flaws, then you won’t and can’t stand them. Because those flaws, idiosyncrasies and quirks are more evident during moments of weakness and difficult situations and of course perceivable by the people who know us, people with whom we live and share our lives, those who have seen us sick and unkempt, sad and depressed, with eyes swollen from crying, heart crushed from loss, spirit broken from failure, those who have seen us in our worst and have stood there, beside us.

Those who instead of getting upset or disappointed in us and run away from us, they run towards us and love us with greater intensity, they encourage us, make us laugh, embrace us so tightly that the warmth and sense of security brings us back to life, they lift us up not with words but with their actions, loud and clear. They endure not only us, but all that we sometimes don’t want to or can’t bear. If it’s not like that, then you are not with the right person and if you’re not willing to be like that with your partner, then you still haven’t found the right person for you.

I don’t need to search for the right person for me, I have already found him, and one mistake I never want to make is take him and all that he does for me for granted. I always try to please him in every way I can, not only because he stands by me during difficult times, but because he does so effortlessly.

One of the ways I please him is with my cooking and it shouldn’t come as a surprise because S loves good food. So when I felt a little better and I could cook something more than plain spaghetti or soup, I made this beetroot hummus that S loves. Apart from its delicious flavor we both love its color. Isn’t it fantastic?

I have been making this hummus for years yet nowhere as often as I should, because as a food blogger I always search for the next thing to make, forgetting about the recipes I love. The last couple of times I made it, I served it with spicy roasted chickpeas and it was incredibly good.

If you haven’t made spicy roasted chickpeas before then you’re missing out. Apart from being utterly delicious they are healthy, easy and quick to make and totally addictive. And of course any leftovers, you can have as a snack in front of the tv.
So do try the hummus and chickpeas this weekend!

As for all you Greeks out there, this hummus is the best side dish to serve at your Kathari Deutera (Clean/Ash Monday) table along with these:
Lagana (Greek Lenten yeasted flatbread)
Taramosalata
Melitzanosalata (Greek Smoky Eggplant Dip)
Greek braised octopus with short pasta (and how to clean and prep octopus)
Greek octopus with vinegar, olive oil and dried oregano
Midopilafo (Greek mussel pilaf) and How to clean and prep mussels
Sautéed shrimps with tahini and garlic sauce and a sumac, cumin seed and pistachio dukkah
Greek fried calamari
And more Lenten recipes

Have a great Kathari Deutera!

Beetroot hummus with spicy, crunchy roasted chickpeas

You can use either boiled or roasted beets to make this hummus. I used boiled beetroot here, but in this recipe I had used roasted beetroot and it was amazing.

In Greece we eat roasted, salted chickpeas called stragalia (στραγάλια) as a snack, but this spicy version is the best.
You can play around with the recipe to your liking. Adding turmeric, cardamom or other spices and various dried herbs will change the flavor profile of the chickpeas. You can serve them not only with this hummus or other dips, but also on top of soups or salads.

Yield: 6-8 as an appetizer

Ingredients

for the beetroot hummus
4 raw beetroots (about 600 g), tops and stalks cut off
250 g cooked (boiled) chickpeas (see here how to make them), or canned chickpeas, rinsed well and drained
1 garlic clove, finely grated
4 Tbsp lemon juice
2½ Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1½ Tbsp tahini (sesame paste)
2 tsp ground cumin
½ tsp salt

A handful fresh dill leaves, finely chopped
Extra virgin olive oil, for drizzling

for the roasted chickpeas
260 g cooked (boiled) chickpeas (see here how to make them), or canned chickpeas, rinsed well and drained
1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
½ tsp ground cumin
½ tsp sweet smoked paprika (Spanish pimentón de la Vera, dulce)
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp chilli powder

Pita breads, toasted, to serve

Special equipment: large food processor, baking tray, baking paper


Preparation

for the beetroot hummus
Scrub the beetroots under cold running water with your hands and place them in a medium-sized pan. Fill the pan with cold water to cover the beetroots completely and put on the lid. Place pan on high heat and bring to the boil. Boil the beetroots for about 40 minutes or until they become tender and you can easily insert a knife into them.

Drain them in a colander, leave them to cool and when they are cool enough to handle, peel them with a knife carefully. You don’t want to take too much of the beetroot away, only the skin which is pretty easy to peel off as it comes away very easily.
Cut the beetroots into pieces and leave them to cool completely.

Place them along with the rest of the ingredients for the hummus into the bowl of your food processor and process until smooth. Give it a taste and add more salt if needed. Also check if it needs more olive oil or lemon, adjusting to have the desired flavor and consistency. It shouldn’t be runny nor stodgy and it should have a tang, not be too sweet.

Empty it in a bowl.
You can keep it in the refrigerator, in an airtight container or covered with plastic wrap for up to 5 days. Take it out of the fridge half an hour before serving and stir it very well with a spoon or spatula to make it creamy and to fluff it up.

for the roasted chickpeas
Preheat your oven to 200ºC.
Line a baking tray with baking paper.

Take your cooked chickpeas and rub them with paper towels to remove the skins. If you’re using canned chickpeas, dry them first. Discard the skins and transfer the chickpeas to a bowl. Add the rest of the ingredients and toss to mix well.
Transfer chickpeas to the baking paper-lined baking tray and spread so they are in one layer.

Place them in the middle rack of the preheated oven and roast them for 35-40 minutes, until they are golden brown and crunchy, checking them every 10 minutes to make sure they don’t burn and tossing them a bit.

If you try them straight out of the oven they may seem not crunchy enough, but once they cool they will crisp up a lot! Keep that in mind and don’t be tempted to roast them for longer or they will be rock hard when cool and you won’t be able to eat them.

You can keep them in an airtight container for weeks.

serve the hummus
Place the hummus in a large bowl and drizzle with some olive oil.
Mix some of the roasted chickpeas with some finely chopped dill leaves and scatter over the top.
Serve with pita bread cut into triangle shapes and enjoy!

The easiest and quickest tyropitakia (Greek individual cheese pies)

Sometimes recipes can be quite simple, as simple as they can get really. That doesn’t mean they are less delicious or that they lack in flavor or panache. A recipe doesn’t have to be difficult, laborious or extravagant to be worthwhile. There are times when efficiency, swiftness and simplicity of ingredients, is key.

Greek cuisine is like that many times, especially when it comes to mezedes. Mezedes are small, simple dishes made to accompany or prelude the main dish, or to accompany a glass of beer, ouzo or wine. This one is such a mezes and yet another version of tyropita, cheese pie.

In Greece, tyropites can be made with all sorts of dough. Sfoliata (puff pastry), kourou (yoghurt pastry) and of course phyllo. Phyllo is the most widely used dough in Greece for pies (phyllo / φύλλο is a Greek word which means leaf). There are many types of phyllo in Greece; the paper thin type which is normally used to make sweets like saragli, baklava or galaktoboureko, the slightly thicker but still very thin phyllo (called kroustas in Greek) used both for savory and sweet pies, and then there’s the thicker phyllo (horiatiko/rustic phyllo) which is mainly used for more hearty savory pies like tyropites, spanakopites, hortopites (wild greens pies) or kreatopites (meat pies).

I make my own hand-rolled phyllo when I have time and I’m in the mood, which is by far the best, but most of the times, let’s not kid ourselves, I buy it ready made. This time, I used horiatiko phyllo, the thick one, to make these shallow-fried tyropitakia, possibly the most simple, easy pies that you can make. With a feta, egg and dried mint filling, they are fried in sunflower oil—although you can fry them in olive oil but they will be heavier— and they are incredibly delicious.

Rolled into a pipe-like shape (the musical instrument that is) called flogera in Greek, they are ultra crispy with the feta filling oozing out in all its exquisite saltiness, while the scent of mint tickles your nose. With a glass of ouzo or a beer, you have a perfect little Greek meze.

More Greek cheese pies:
Tyropita (cheese pie) with puff pastry
Tyropitakia with Greek yoghurt dough/kourou





Tyropitakia with horiatiko phyllo (Greek individual cheese pies with thick phyllo)

Try not to use the regular phyllo but search for the thick one. Regular phyllo will absorb more oil while frying and will be less crispy.

The way I roll the dough makes the tyropitakia even crispier, with many edges. Don’t worry about not being sealed at the ends. Rest assured there’s no danger of the filling spilling out, as long as you follow the instructions, or just look at the photos below.

Yield: 48 tyropitakia

Ingredients
12 sheets of phyllo (preferably the thick type)
500 g Greek feta, grated
2 medium-sized eggs
½ tsp dried mint
Freshly ground white pepper, 4-5 turns of the pepper mill
Sunflower oil for frying

Special equipment: wide frying pan, absorbent kitchen paper


Preparation
In a medium-sized bowl mix well feta, eggs, mint and pepper with a spoon.

Open up the package of phyllo and roll out the sheets. Cut them all at once in half lengthwise and then cut them in half crosswise to create 48 pieces about 20x17cm each.

Take each piece of dough and place 1 tsp of filling near one corner. Roll the phyllo like in the photos below. Brush the end corner with a little water so it sticks together and doesn’t open up while frying.

Fill the bottom of a wide frying pan with oil by 1-2 cm and place over medium-high heat. When it’s hot, fry the tyropitakia in one layer, 1 minute per side, until crispy and golden brown, being careful not to burn them.

Transfer them to a plate lined with kitchen paper to absorb the extra oil. Fry the rest of the tyropitakia.
Serve while warm.

Greek roasted pork loin with petimezi (grape molasses)

Hello all. I hope you had a wonderful Christmas and enjoyed good food with your loved ones.

Are you full yet? I know I am. But that doesn’t stop me from eating some more. Well, it is the holidays after all. I can feel guilty about it afterwards. For the time being, let me rejoice in the food and the people I love. I suggest you do the same.

Greeks traditionally eat pork on Christmas and/or on New Year's. So if you would like to feast like a Greek, let me share with you a recipe for pork loin with petimezi that is truly delicious, if I do say so myself.

Petimezi is Greek grape molasses which comes from moustos (grape must). The thick, viscous petimezi is used in Greek cuisine as a condiment in salad dressings, to enrich sauces for meat and poultry, with eggs, cheese, in traditional cakes and cookies named moustokouloura, you name it. Here, I used it as part of a glaze along with mustard and olive oil.

The pork, slathered with the glossy glaze, sits on a bed of garlic heads cut in half, sliced juicy oranges and lemons, and whole, aromatic fresh herbs like rosemary, thyme and sage. Everything gets a generous drizzle of olive oil and the pork is roasted in the oven. After an hour, out comes the succulent meat.

The pork’s crust is slightly caramelized and underneath hides the juicy and tender meat. The fragrance of the citrus, of the sweet and sour petimezi, of the herbs and the mustard has permeated the pork and its flavor is now sweet, tangy and zesty. The sauce, made from the deglazed pan juices, petimezi (again) and balsamic vinegar, finished off with some butter to give it a beautiful sheen, completes the picture. Poured all over the slices of supple meat, it is a wonderful combination and a winner on a festive table.

I wish you all a Happy New Year with health and happiness!

Petimezi and mustard-glazed roasted pork loin with herbs and citrus fruits, and a petimezi and balsamic vinegar sauce

Pork loin is lean so it needs careful cooking as it can dry out very easily. Having a meat thermometer is very handy to ensure that it’s cooked properly.

I love serving it with the garlic that has cooked down to soft, plump cloves and with the herbs, picking some with each bite to give extra flavor to the meat. Roast potatoes, rice or celeriac purée and a big salad would make great accompaniments.

Don’t be tempted to serve the pork without the sauce. It needs it, not only for flavor but for moistness.
I didn’t add any flour to the sauce because I didn’t want it to be thick, but if you prefer it on the thick side, add half a teaspoon to a teaspoon of flour or corn flour.

Yield: 6 servings

Ingredients
1.2 kg center-cut pork loin (with a little fat on top, no bones), tied (you can ask your butcher to tie it for you if can’t do it)
1 large orange, sliced thickly
1 lemon, sliced
2 heads of garlic, cut in half crosswise
4-5 fresh rosemary sprigs
5 fresh sage sprigs
5-6 fresh thyme sprigs
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
6 Tbsp olive oil
½ cup water

for the glaze
4 Tbsp Greek petimezi (grape-must syrup/grape molasses)
2 Tbsp mild-flavored mustard

for the sauce
200 ml chicken stock
2 Tbsp petimezi
½ Tbsp balsamic vinegar
Freshly ground black pepper
1½ Tbsp unsalted butter

Special equipment: large baking pan (preferably suitable also for the stovetop), pastry brush, meat thermometer, sieve


Preparation
Take the pork out of the fridge at least half an hour before cooking so it can come to room temperature.

Preheat your oven to 190ºC.

Arrange the orange and lemon slices in a baking pan in one layer. Place wider slices in the center so the pork can sit on them comfortably. Add the half garlic heads between the citrus slices. Arrange the whole sprigs of rosemary, sage and thyme mainly in the middle of the pan.

Prepare the glaze by whisking the petimezi and mustard in a small bowl to combine.

Rinse the pork and pat it dry with paper towels. Rub it well all over with 3 Tbps olive oil and season it well all over with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
Transfer it to the middle of the pan (fat-side up), on top of the citrus slices and fresh herbs and using a pastry brush, brush the top and sides with some of the glaze (see photo). Drizzle the remaining 3 Tbps of olive oil over the citrus fruits around the pan and pour in also the water.

Place the pan on the low rack of your preheated oven and roast for 20 minutes. Take it out and glaze the pork with the glaze mixture using the pastry brush. Make sure to be very gentle so you don’t remove the previous layer of glaze.
Roast for a further 20 minutes on the low rack of the oven. During roasting, check if the pan is dry and if so, add a little more water.
Take the pan out and glaze the pork for the last time with the glaze mixture, being gentle again with the brush. Place the pan on the middle rack of the oven this time and roast the pork for a further 20 minutes or until a meat thermometer inserted in the middle of the loin reads 65ºC.

Take the pan out of the oven and remove the pork from the pan and onto a board. The temperature of the pork will continue to rise while resting, a couple of degrees. You can cover it very loosely with aluminum foil if you wish to keep it warm.

While the pork rests, prepare the sauce. Remove the garlic and herbs from the pan. Press the orange and lemon slices through a sieve to get their juice, letting it fall into the pan. Discard the citrus slices.
Place the baking pan on the stovetop over medium heat and pour in the chicken stock. Using a wooden spoon, deglaze the pan. Take it off the heat and pour the liquid through a sieve and into a small saucepan.

Note: In case your baking pan/dish can't be put on the stovetop (for example, clay pots may break when put on direct heat), add the chicken stock to the pan and return pan to the oven (which you have kept at 190ºC) for 5-10 minutes or until the stock starts to simmer. Remove pan from the oven and deglaze, using a wooden spoon. Continue with the recipe instructions as described above.

To the saucepan, add the petimezi and balsamic vinegar as well as a little black pepper, set over medium-high heat and let it simmer and reduce by a third. Don’t let it get syrupy, it needs to be on the thin side. Add the butter and whisk it in. Check the seasoning and add salt if you think it needs it. Don’t add salt in the beginning because the flavor of the sauce concentrates as it cooks down so it may be too salty.

To serve, cut off and discard the twine from the pork carefully so you don't remove the crust and discard it. Place the pork on a platter and drizzle it with a little olive oil. Pour the sauce in a small container with a spout so you can add as much or as little as you wish. Slice the pork and pour the sauce over it.
Serve with the garlic and herbs.

Enjoy!

The Greek Mousakas

There is a lot of dispute among Greeks over what is a proper mousakas and even greater over what constitutes the perfect one.

Mousakas’ roots are not Greek—you can find versions of the dish in Arab/Middle Eastern and Balcan countries. It was Greek-ified in the first half of the 20th century by the French-trained Greek gastronomist Nikolaos Tselementes, who added the delicious, yet so un-Greek at the time, béchamel sauce on top of the layered dish and introduced it to Greek home-cooks through his cookbooks. Mousakas became part of Greek cuisine ever since, as did the béchamel sauce, that made its appearance on top of other Greek dishes like pastitsio.

Greek mousakas (μουσακάς) is commonly made with minced beef/veal sauce, fried eggplants, kefalotyri cheese and is topped off with an egg-enriched béchamel sauce. But then there are other versions including eggplant and potatoes, or eggplant and zucchini, or all three. My family’s version is the last one.

You will find many versions of mousaka among Greek homes and in restaurants or tavernas. A lot of them will not be good, most of them will have the wrong type of béchamel sauce that’s too thick, others that will be filled with grease and an inordinate amount of olive oil. Mousakas must be anything but oily and greasy and unsavory. It should be characterized as meaty, honeyed rich and luscious.

The meat sauce is traditionally rather rich in sweet spices like cinnamon and cloves, but my version is a little lighter. It is mostly tomato based rather than spiced, and it lends itself to a lighter mousaka. The eggplants, potatoes and zucchinis are all fried but yet are not as heavy as you would expect. Of course, being Greek and having grown up with this dish, I’m used to eating it, so to be honest, there will be some of you who may find it heavy.

To me this is the better mousakas—of course every Greek cook will say the same thing about theirs but, oh well. The different layers of potato, zucchini, eggplant, alternating with meat sauce and a good sprinkling of kefalotyri cheese, make for a more interesting combination of flavors that work together beautifully and harmoniously. The very strict, traditional moussakas of just eggplant and meat sauce, is to me just a tad one-dimensional and even though I enjoy it, I prefer this one more.

The béchamel sauce on top is creamy and rich but not heavy, rather airy as it soufflés up in the oven. Granted, to make a good béchamel is not easy, you need to practice, however, once you get the hang of it and feel for it, then you’re okay. Following the recipe always helps.

Mousakas is the ultimate home-cooked dish. I certainly feel sorry for all those tourists having to suffer through eating mousaka in many touristy areas around Greece, eating those awful specimens of mousaka that are oily and heavy and not at all what a mousakas should be. So for those of you who would like to taste the real thing, do make this one and let me know how you liked it.

Greek Mousakas

Mousakas is all about balance of layers. The most important element/layer of mousaka for me is the béchamel. It shouldn’t be too thick nor too thin, and it should be rich and creamy.

Even though eggplant and zucchini are summer vegetables, this dish is made all year round in Greece. It is super comforting on a chilly autumn and winter evening.

Traditionally, the cheese used in this dish is Kefalotyri, a hard, yellow Greek cheese made from raw goat or sheep's milk that has a slightly salty, sharp flavor and aroma. If you can’t find it, use Pecorino or Parmesan.

Yield: 6-8 servings / for a medium-sized baking dish 31x25cm, 6-7cm deep (the size of the dish is important so try to use a similar-sized dish)

Ingredients

for the meat sauce
3-4 Tbsp olive oil
2 red onions, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, sliced
500 g minced veal or beef (it shouldn’t be too fatty)
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
½ tsp sweet paprika
Pinch of sugar
½ cup passata (tomato pulp)
2 heaped Tbsp tomato paste
½ cup hot water

for the vegetables
4 medium-sized potatoes, cut lengthwise into 5mm slices
2 medium-sized eggplants, cut lengthwise into 5mm slices
2 large zucchini, cut lengthwise into 5mm slices
Sunflower oil, for frying

for the béchamel sauce
100 g unsalted butter
100 g all-purpose flour
1 liter fresh whole milk
2 medium-sized eggs
White pepper, 3-4 grinds of the mill
3 Tbsp grated Kefalotyri
Salt

More grated Kefalotyri (about 5 Tbsp), for sprinkling on top of each vegetable layer and on top of the béchamel (50-60 g cheese in total for the whole dish)

Special equipment: kitchen paper, medium-sized baking dish 31x25cm, 6-7cm deep


Preparation

make the meat sauce
Heat the olive oil in a medium-sized, heavy-bottomed saucepan, over medium-high heat. Sauté the onions for about 5 minutes, until they become soft and translucent and then add the garlic. Sauté for 1 minute and add the minced meat. Sauté for 4-5 minutes, stirring continuously with a spoon or spatula, until browned. Season with salt and black pepper, add the sweet paprika and sugar and stir well. Then add the passata and tomato paste and stir well. Add the water, stir well and let the mixture come to the boil, uncovered. Once it does, cover and cook over low heat for about 20 minutes, or until the minced meat is almost cooked.
While the filling is cooking, you need to keep an eye on it, stirring occasionally, because it might need more water. Once cooked, the sauce should not be dry. It must have an average amount of liquid in it in order to permeate the vegetables and give the dish extra flavor.

fry the vegetables
In a wide, shallow frying pan, add as much oil to fill it by ¼. Heat the oil over medium-high heat and when it’s very hot, add the potato slices on one layer and fry them on both sides. Add more oil if needed.

Important note: The potatoes (as well as zucchini and eggplants) need to be cooked by ¾ as they will continue cooking in the oven. Be careful though, especially with the potatoes because you don’t want them to be hard.

Remove the potatoes and place them on kitchen paper to absorb the extra oil. Continue with the rest.
Fry the zucchini and eggplant slices in the exact same manner as the potatoes, placing them afterwards on kitchen paper.

make the béchamel sauce
In a small, heavy-based saucepan, add the butter and melt over a low heat. Add the flour and using a whisk, stir and cook for 2-3 minutes until you have a white roux.
While whisking, pour the milk in the saucepan, turn heat up to medium and allow the mixture to come to the boil, whisking continuously to prevent lumps.
Once the béchamel comes to the boil, turn heat down to low and simmer for 6-7 minutes, stirring with the whisk regularly, until it thickens, being careful that it doesn’t become lumpy or catches. Remove pan from the heat and add the two eggs, whisking vigorously and quickly to incorporate them in the sauce. You need to be super quick doing this because you don’t want your eggs to scramble. You can do it one egg at a time if you prefer. Add the kefalotyri and white pepper, season with salt to your liking and mix well.

Preheat your oven to 180°C.

assemble the mousaka
Eyeball the division of the meat sauce into three portions in order to spread it equally over the three different vegetable layers.

Lay the potatoes on the bottom of the baking dish in one layer. Sprinkle with a little salt and 1 Tbsp kefalotyri. Cover with one portion of meat sauce.
On top of the meat sauce, lay the zucchini slices, in one layer but making sure not to leave gaps between the slices. If some overlap, that’s okay. Sprinkle with a little salt and 1 Tbsp kefalotyri. Cover with another portion of meat sauce.
On top of the meat sauce, lay the eggplant slices, in one layer but making sure not to leave gaps between the slices. If some overlap, that’s okay. Sprinkle with a little salt and 1 Tbsp kefalotyri. Cover with the last portion of meat sauce.
Spread the béchamel sauce on top evenly and smooth the top. Sprinkle with 1-2 Tbsps kefalotyri cheese.

Place the baking dish on the low rack of the preheated oven and bake for 30 minutes, then transfer dish to the middle rack and bake for a further 10-15 minutes or until the béchamel has taken on a golden brown color.
Remove baking dish from the oven and leave to cool before serving. If you try to cut pieces of mousaka while it’s hot, the layers will collapse.
The next day the mousakas will taste even better.

You can keep refrigerated for 2-3 days or in the freezer (in an airtight container) for 2-3 weeks.
You can reheat individual pieces.