Important News About “On Top Of Spaghetti”

Tags

blog, Greek blog, The Foodie Corner

Hello everyone!

This is a difficult post to write, so I’m keeping it short and sweet. It’s goodbye, but hopefully not really goodbye. Not making much sense… I know. Well, after much thought and indecisiveness, I’ve finally accepted that it is too difficult to keep both blogs up and running properly. My beloved first baby On Top Of Spaghetti has been suffering complete neglect, so I’ve decided to give it a long-term timeout. The pages that are here will stay here, but I won’t be posting anything new. This is very sad for me, as I’m very sentimental about this little blog.

There is however some good news. We won’t lose touch, as The Foodie Corner (my Greek blog) has just gone international! Yes, I will be blogging in English there. So you might ask, well why do that when you could have just written in this one? It’s not the same.

As a lot of you are fellow food bloggers, you know exactly how long it takes to get a good post out there. If you’re not fellow bloggers, well guys, it’s more time consuming that it looks. For me, the part that usually takes the most time is photographing my creations. Since I gave up using the iphone for my photos, and started playing with a more complicated camera, and props, and backgrounds, the photography side of my work has become a major part of the recipe blogging process. Having one blog in two languages means I can use the same photo for a recipe. And although originally my intention was to keep the two blogs completely different, with different recipes, I found myself posting things here that were already on The Foodie Corner in Greek. This didn’t feel right to me, it looked unprofessional and I was getting stressed and unhappy with the whole situation.

So what’s the deal with The Foodie Corner? Well, basically most posts will be in both languages. In some cases though, if I feel a recipe is irrelevant to either audience, I won’t post it on those pages. That’s the plan at the moment, but it may very well change down the line, as my ideas and thoughts are evolving and growing together with the pages of the blog. Also, I am noticing more and more that even if I make a very traditional dish of some sort, it will nearly always have a twist that might make it interesting to everyone. So, yes, it’s all “work in progress” until I find my way. If you see something on the Greek pages that you want to learn more about, just drop me a line or a comment!

So, I am really hoping you will all come over and visit, and if you like what you see, there are a number of ways to follow my antics. Facebook (unfortunately not reliable for all posts, but still a way to keep in touch), Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram and Bloglovin. You can also subscribe to receive posts by email.

I really really really hope you join me there! Thanks for all your support guys. Ciao.

Cheese Truffles (aka Cheeseballs)

Tags

blue cheese, cheddar, cheese, cheese truffles, cheeseballs, feta, finger food

The blue cheese ones

So, I’ve really got to stop doing this. Showing up now and then with a recipe I’ve nicked from my Greek blog… But I couldn’t not share this one with you guys. I’m actually really proud of these cheese truffles (the fancy name for cheeseballs). Cheeseballs aren’t an achievement in themselves; they’re ridiculously easy to make. It’s the flavour combinations I’m going to brag about. I did a lot of research and found a lot of recipes, however none made me think “THAT one”. So I decided to sit my derriere down and make one up (or three). And these are what I came up with:

Feta and Honey with Date and Walnut Coating
Cheddar, Gouda and Apple with Caramelised Almond and Sultana Coating
Blue Cheese with Sesame Coating and Strawberry Jam on a Cracker
(mouthfuls, literally and otherwise!)

The cheddar ones (at the front) and the feta ones (at the back)

The reason I was searching high and low for a good cheeseball in the first place, was the fact that I had chosen this as my finger food contribution to a recent street party. I’m part of a group of food bloggers here in Athens called Food4Good. We organize or participate in events where people can come along and sample (well, gorge on usually) our creations, paying a small amount of money which all goes to various charities. In this case, we participated in a street party which also included music, kids’ arts & crafts, kids’ yoga and all sorts of cool attractions. It was smack bang in the middle of an upscale shopping area, on the Sunday before Easter. The shops were open and the weather was lovely, so you can imagine how busy it got! We had all sorts of goodies, both savoury and sweet. Feast your eyes on this lot.

Mini meat pies with bulgur wheat dough, by Elena is Cooking

Smoked Salmon Potato Nests with Yogurt and Dill Filling by Sabor by Conna

Mini Tarts with Feta, Egg Bacon and Roasted Red Pepper Fillings by Wonderfoodland

Mini lenten apple pies by Funky Cook

Mini vanilla and chocolate cupcakes by Sugar Buzz

Mini pavlovas by Gourmelita

Before I move on to the recipes, I would like to once again thank Artemis Tsipi of Wonderfoodland, a fab food photographer and friend, who took all these beautiful shots and gave me permission to use them here. Check out her blog here (also in English, look for the links) and her lovely work.

And now, here goes:

Ingredients

Cheese Truffles (aka Cheeseballs)

Feta and Honey with Date and Walnut Coating

325 gr. feta cheese (choose a sturdy one, not a very soft one)
175 gr. cream cheese
2 Tbs + 1 ½ tsp honey
100 gr. walnuts, finely chopped
110 gr. dates, finely chopped
salty pretzel sticks (one for each cheese truffle)

Cheddar, Gouda and Apple with Caramelised Almond and Sultana Coating

200 gr. blanched almonds (for the coating)
1 Tbs + 2 tsp honey (for the coating)
1/2 tsp salt (for the coating)
1 tsp cinnamon (for the coating)
1/2 tsp (scant) freshly grated nutmeg (for the coating)
1/8 tsp freshly ground pepper (for the coating)
100 gr. sultanas, finely chopped (for the coating)
350 gr. mature cheddar, thickly grated (on a grater with large holes)
90 gr. gouda, thickly grated
150 gr. cream cheese
2 pinches (between 1/8 – 1/4 tsp) salt
1-2 green apples, chopped into small cubes

Blue Cheese with Sesame Coating and Strawberry Jam on a Cracker

350 gr. blue cheese
100 gr. butter, softened
30 ml brandy
1 tsp freshly ground pepper
1/4 tsp plus a pinch of salt (depends on saltiness of blue cheese)
toasted sesame seeds for coating
1/4 – 1/2 jar (100 to 180 gr.) strawberry jam
small salty crackers (one for each truffle)

Instructions

For the Feta and Honey Truffles

Mix/knead the cheeses and honey in a bowl with your hands. Take small amounts and shape into small balls. This mixture is soft and gooey so you might want to thump me at some point. Stay calm, wash your hands often (it helps) and persevere. It’s worth it. Put them on a plate and refrigerate for a while so they start firming up. Mix the chopped walnuts and dates in a bowl. One by one, place the cheeseballs into the mixture and roll them around till they are well coated. Pop onto a plate and refrigerate again for at least 4 hours. To serve, stick a pretzel in each so they look like lollipops.

For the Cheddar, Gouda and Apple Truffles

First make the caramelized almonds for the coating. Spread the almonds on a baking tray lined with greased parchment paper. Toast in preheated oven at 190C (fan) or 200C (conventional) for 7 minutes. Meanwhile, mix the rest of the coating ingredients except the sultanas, in a bowl. When the 7 minutes are up, add the almonds to the bowl, mix to cover well, return them to the baking tray (spaced apart slightly), and finish toasting for another 6 minutes. Timings may differ from oven to oven, but be careful as you can’t really tell if they are burning now they are coated in honey. Let cool and chop finely. Mix with chopped sultanas and set aside.
In a large bowl place the cheeses and salt, and mix well with your hands. Take a small quantity in your palm, shape into a ball and press a cube of apple into the centre. Close it up and continue with the rest of the cheese. Roll the balls into the coating mixture, pressing well so it sticks. This will be trickier than the feta ones, as the cheese won’t be so soft. Place the balls in the fridge.

For the Blue Cheese Truffles

Crumble the blue cheese into a large bowl, add the butter, brandy, salt and pepper, and mix with your hands. Try the mixture and add salt if necessary. Shape into very small balls (this one is strong) and roll in the toasted sesame seeds till coated. Place in the fridge till firm. To serve, smear a bit of jam on each cracker and pop a truffle on top. These should be eaten in one mouthful so you get all the different flavours at once!

Note: All the truffles need time in the fridge to firm up. However, they are best served at room temperature, so remember to take them out about 30 minutes to an hour before you start munching. Best thing about these guys? They actually taste better if they are made the day before. Perfect party food if you ask me.

Unfortunately not all the goodies pictured above are available, but here are two of them. Wish I had a couple of each right now…
Smoked Salmon Potato Nests with Yogurt and Dill Filling by Sabor by Conna
Mini Tarts with Feta, Egg Bacon and Roasted Red Pepper Fillings by Wonderfoodland
The coating for the cheddar truffles was inspired by these incredible almond snacks on Wonderfoodland.

Lenten Bulgur Wheat Salad with Cashews and Mandarins. And Some Rambling.

Tags

bulgur wheat, cashews, Lent, mandarin, salad, vegan

Um, hello… do you remember me? Yes, it’s me, Eleni. I bet you thought I’d never be back! Well, here I am. Gosh, it’s weird writing in English… my fingers can’t seem to find the right keys!

So, my news. Busy busy with little brother blog The Foodie Corner. It’s funny how I think of blogs as being boys… wonder why… Anyway, lots going on over there as I recently launched my new pages from which I am selling slow cookers in Greece! Yay! It’s something I’ve been obsessing about for a couple of years now. It’s an almost unknown cooking device here, goodness knows why. So for a long time I knew I wanted to bring them over and introduce the wonders of slow cooking to Greek people. Many of course already know how brilliant they are, since the internet is a major educator on all things trendy and popular. But now they can easily purchase one by ordering it from my blog! Yay again! Now I just need to somehow tell everyone in the country about this. Yeah, that’s not so easy/cheap to do (if it’s one it’s not the other). But I will get there. I will. I will. Won’t I?

The past few days have been a bit strange. Apart from the above question that keeps popping up in my mind a-l-l-t-h-e-t-i-m-e, I am also having trouble switching my mind off work. The combination of working for yourself and working from home is, I’m sure, a fool-proof recipe for this condition. One of the two is bad enough, but put both in the mix and there you go. Business and life become one gooey mixture which oozes into every single corner of your mind. Can I just say here that I’m not complaining. I love what I’m doing and I have absolutely no regrets about the decision I made. I’m just putting my thoughts into html and what better place to do it than my hobby-blog? So back to the oozing mess of work/life. What do I mean? Well, say I’m on Facebook and I’ve posted my newest recipe link (pure business), and I’ve then clicked on “home” to see what everyone else is up to. I’m sitting there liking stuff, and adding new friends, and catching up with old ones. Am I wasting time? It’s not pure business, but surely as a blogger I need to keep up and be seen out there? That colleague I haven’t seen in years might want to buy a slow cooker! Business/life = blurred. I’m in the kitchen and I’m cooking. It’s dinner but it’s also my next post. Does the time I spend chopping and prepping count as work? Blur. Does the time I spend washing up count as work, since the dishes held my next post? Blur (ha). Do I deserve an extra hour in bed tomorrow because I was writing this post till ten o’clock at night? No so blurred (I do). Anyway, you get the picture. And I’m sure lots of you know exactly what it feels like; I haven’t just discovered America. The worst thing about it all is that I can’t stop thinking about recipes, food and the blog. If I’m left for one minute to just sit quietly without any distractions, my mind will automatically go to that recipe I saw on tv, that photo I saw on Pinterest or that idea I had for a good brownie. Food will not get out of my mind. At all. It’s driving me just a little bit nuts. Yesterday I resorted to 2 hours of ironing while watching Scandal, just to get rid of the cheeseballs that were in my head (don’t ask). Ok, I’m done now. That feels better already. No it doesn’t, now I’ve remembered the cheeseballs…

Moving on (if any of you are still here) I’m going to share one of the most amazing salads I’ve ever tried, let alone made myself. This was a dish I prepared for a charity event last December, and –if I may say so myself- it went down preeeetty well! As soon as I had mixed the dressing ingredients I was already in love with it just from the smell. You have to try it. I’ll leave you in peace now, I’m going to watch House of Cards. That’s one I really have to concentrate for, I haven’t a clue what’s going on even on the best of days…

Recipe adapted from Power Hungry

Lenten Bulgur Wheat Salad with Cashews and Mandarins

Makes a big bowlful (approx. 10 side servings)

Ingredients

1 box (500gr) bulgur wheat, soaked overnight in lots of water and drained well
2 spring onions, the white and a little bit of the green part, chopped (you can use more if you like it)
6 Tbs parsley, finely chopped (measured after chopping)
3/4 Tbs orange zest (from 1-2 oranges)
3/4 cup sultanas
1/2 cup cashews, roasted and salted
1/2 kg sweet mandarins, peeled, segmented, with each segment chopped in half

For the dressing
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup orange juice, freshly squeezed
3 Tbs lemon juice, freshly squeezed
3 Tbs honey (or vegan friendly substitute)
1 1/2 Tbs Dijon mustard
1 Tbs cumin
2 1/4 tsp cinammon
2 1/4 tsp salt
3/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper

Instructions

1. Drain the bulgur wheat very well. Use some cheesecloth over a colander, fill it with the wheat, grab the corners creating a pouch and squeeze it dry. (Note: we do not boil the wheat)
2. Put the wheat in a large bowl with the onions, parsley and orange zest. Mix well.
3. Put all the dressing ingredients in a clean jam jar and shake till well incorporated. It will be thick and yummy.
4. Add the sultanas, cashews and dressing to the wheat and mix well but gently. To be sure, add the dressing in stages and mix as you go along, that way you can stop when you feel it’s enough.
5. Finally add the mandarin pieces and mix again, being careful not to break them up too much.
Note: The salad is best made in advance so the flavours have the chance to mingle and get to know each other. Just make sure to take it out of the fridge about half an hour to an hour before serving so it’s at room temperature. If you do this, keep the mandarins out till just before serving.

Slow Cooker Sausage and Black Eyed Bean Soup with Beet Greens

Happy New Year! What, it’s still January isn’t it? Here in Greece we say Happy New Year till February! I hope 2014 turns out to be the year we’ve all been waiting for.

I posted this recipe on The Foodie Corner a while ago, and it was the first recipe of the new year there too. I thought it was appropriate as it sort of represents a few of my goals for my Greek blog. Plus it’s got black eyed beans and greens in it, which are reminiscent of Hoppin’ John – a good luck dish eaten in the States. What better for a New Year’s recipe?

In case you’re wondering what those goals are and how they can be represented by a soup, I’ll explain. This soup is:
1. Healthy. I want to post more healthy recipes (you know, in amongst the chocolate cakes and baked brie).
2. Tasty but also frugal. Planning my food shopping, economising and avoiding waste; all happening in 2014.
3. The recipe is my own. I opened the fridge and let my imagination get a work out (I literally just put whatever I found, in the soup). I like that and want to do more of it.
4. It’s a slow cooker recipe. My slow cookers are going to be getting even more use this year.
5. Did I mention the black eyed beans and greens? Green as in the color of dollars? Yeah. Another goal. Preferably in euro but I won’t be picky.

So here’s my lucky soup recipe. It’s one of the good ones, you know, plop it all in the slow cooker and do something else for the rest of the day! Enjoy!

Ingredients

1 c. dried black eyed beans (no need to pre-soak… yay)
1 c. liquid from draining pumpkin puree (I told you, imagination! Obviously you can substitute with water)
3 c. hot water
200 gr. beef sausage, without casings, sliced
1 large handful of beet greens (I used the smaller ones with a thinner stalk, but you can use any of them, they cook for long enough to soften)
1 ½ celery stalk, sliced
½ yellow pepper, chopped
1 medium carrot, grated (I grated it to hide it from The Mister, you can just slice it)
1 ½ Tbs tomato paste (the thick puree that comes in a tube or small can)
1 tsp mixed dried herbs
½ tsp black pepper, freshly ground
½ tsp sweet paprika
1 parmesan rind
1 tsp coarse salt
extra grated parmesan for serving (optional)

Instructions

1. Add all the ingredients apart from the last three (parmesan rind, salt and extra parmesan) to the slow cooker. Turn on low and cook for at least 10 hours, or till the soup is thickened and the beans are soft.
2. Midway add the parmesan rind. (I forgot and added it for the last hour. This was not enough. If you’re going to be away add it in the beginning).
3. Towards the end of cooking, taste the soup and add salt if needed. The sausage may be salty enough (it wasn’t for me). Also they say that salt doesn’t help dry beans to cook, so I thought it would be best added after they have softened.
4. If you want you can use an immersion blender to thicken the soup more. Just pulse once or twice. Or transfer one cup of soup to a blender, pulse, and return to the slow cooker and stir in.
5. Serve with grated parmesan. Feta might be a nice alternative too.

Mince Pie Thumbprint Cookies

How about a really really quick post? I feel awful about the way I am neglecting my little Spaghetti blog, and I was just over at The Foodie Corner writing this recipe when I suddenly thought this is too good not to post here as well.

A few days ago I was in the middle of making mince pies and was getting a bit frustrated with the whole muffin tin pie dough combo, when it suddenly occurred to me that the dough I was handling would probably behave better as a biscuit (as in cookie for my US friends). Then I got an image of a thumbprint biscuit in my mind and decided that a blob of mincemeat would look pretty cute (and taste pretty good too). So, the rest of the dough was rolled into little balls and transformed into these little cuties. Bite sized mince pie biscuits that you can enjoy with a cuppa or plop in a bowl and devour with lashings of cream. Just like a proper mince pie, minus the faff.

The mincemeat I used was the Thursday Cottage brand which is pretty amazing. Even more amazing is the fact that you can get it in Greece! The pastry is lovely and sweet so they make a great pair. I have managed to keep a few of these and I’m hoping I can stay away from the biscuit tin long enough to enjoy them on Christmas Day. Now I have to go because just thinking of them is making that pretty difficult…

Have a wonderful Christmas and a fantastic New Year everyone!

(Original recipe for mince pies is from the BBC Good Food magazine)

Ingredients

300gr mincemeat
75gr dark chocolate, chopped
375gr cold butter, cubed
600gr all purpose flour
225gr brown granulated sugar
icing sugar for sprinkling (optional)

Instructions

1. Mix mincemeat and chocolate in a bowl and set aside.
2. Place butter and flour in a large bowl and rub with your fingers till it resembles crumbs. Add the sugar and squeeze with your hands till the mixture forms a dough. It will be very crumbly to start with, be patient and keep kneading till it comes together.
3. Preheat oven to 200C (180C fan). Make little balls of dough and place them on lined baking trays, spaced apart. Press the back of a round measuring spoon into the top so that the ball is flattened slightly and an indentation is formed. If you don’t have round measuring spoons use your thumb. Fill each indentation with some mincemeat but don’t let it spill over. Bake for approx. 15 to 20 minutes, depending on your oven and the size of the cookies. Start checking after 10 minutes. They should be a light golden colour.
4. Remove from the oven and let them cool on the tray (they will continue to cook for a little while). When completely cool sprinkle with icing sugar if desired.

Note: This is not a sponsored post and I have received no compensation or free products for mentioning the brand. I just thought it was really tasty and you all deserve to know that!

Easy Bougatsa (Greek Custard Pie)

Tags

bougatsa, custard, dessert, fyllo pastry, Greek, sweet

If you’ve been to Greece, chances are you’ve tried bougatsa. Maybe for breakfast one morning before hitting the beach? Or after stumbling upon a small bakery with a batch of pies fresh out of the oven? Bougatsa is the one with the fyllo pastry wrapped around a thick creamy white custard, with icing sugar and cinnamon sprinkled on top. It’s good. It’s very very good.

Luckily there’s a way to make it easily, without faffing around with buttering flimsy sheets of pastry that dry out if not kept under a damp towel, etc etc. Some people call it the lazy woman’s bougatsa. I’m not sure about you, but any recipe with the words “the lazy woman’s…” in its title, is going to get my attention.

This particular recipe is ridiculously easy. I should say dangerously easy, as whipping up a dish of this bougatsa with such little effort could mean ill-fitting jeans are in your imminent future. And it keeps well in the fridge; in fact it gets better during the two days after it’s baked. However, I have very kindly made a small batch here, so it shouldn’t do too much damage. Unless you make it every two days!

The original idea to make this came from the blog Funky Cook (in Greek) and the recipe I used is from the blog Sugar Flowers Creations (in Greek).

Ingredients

250gr fyllo pastry
125gr butter, melted
3 eggs
1/2 c. milk
1/2 c. sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
icing sugar and cinnamon for dusting

Instructions

1. Lightly grease a rectangular baking dish (mine is 25x16cm) and preheat your oven to 180C. Take each sheet of pastry and gather it/bunch it up widthways. Put one sheet next to the other in the dish, bunched up. (If this doesn’t make much sense you can check the pictures in the original recipe here, and also here.)
2. Drizzle the melted butter over the pastry in the dish. Pop it in the oven and bake for about 10 minutes or until it starts to go a golden colour.
3. While the fyllo is baking, beat the eggs lightly and add the milk, sugar and vanilla. Whisk until smooth. Pour the egg mixture over the half-baked fyllo. Move the dish a bit so it’s distributed evenly and return it to the oven.
4. Bake for another 20-30 minutes, or until golden. Let it cool slightly.
5. To serve, sprinkle with icing sugar and cinnamon. I did that separately for each portion at the time of serving. Store it in the refrigerator but it’s best served warm (about 15 seconds in the microwave will do the trick nicely for each individual piece).

Note: If you want a proper sized bougatsa pie, double all the ingredients execpt the eggs, of which you will need 5.

Other classic Greek desserts
Galaktoboureko by Elena’s Cooking
Cream Horns from Sabor by Conna
Samali from Sabor by Conna

Pastitsio. Need I Say More?

Tags

bechamel, bolognese, cheese, crockpot, Greek, meat sauce, minced meat, pasta bake, pastitsio, slow cooker, spaghetti

Hello! Well, yes, here I am! It’s been a while. Phew, a busy few weeks. I’ve just completed the last of a series of projects that popped up at the same time as my new Greek blog launch. One was a recipe contest for the restaurant chain TGI Friday’s, the other a guest post at a food related website (more on that in future) and the final one was another secret mission about which I can say that it involved making a Christmas recipe and photographing it. While it was 25C outside. Weirdest feeling!

All this at the time I was supposed to be building up the content of my own new blog. And practicing my new food styling and photography skills after a fabulous workshop in Holland at the end of September. Oh, and entertaining my gorgeous little nephews who came over for a week’s visit from the UK with my cousin and my uncle! Rather than try and do everything at once (I’m not good at that) I set myself a schedule (I’m better at that) and got all the projects done one after the other, while keeping a week in between completely free so I could enjoy the holiday with my family. It was my uncle’s first visit to Greece, after his sister (my mum) has lived here for 45 years! It was such a fab week!

Gazing at the sea on a one-day cruise
Swimming in a pool all to oneself
Being buried in the sand
Eating a huge ice-cream
Digging one’s way to China

Now I’m hoping to get into a rhythm with my posts, both for The Foodie Corner and OTO Spaghetti, and maybe show up here a little more often. That’s the plan anyway…

In order to celebrate all the above, and to make up for my disappearance, I am sharing a really good recipe. Not that all the rest aren’t really good… but this is a rather special dish. Pastitsio. Anyone who has been to Greece knows what it is. Its elements are I suppose –more or less- the same as those of lasagne, but somehow the taste is different. Equally yummy, but different. While lasagne is best made to be fairly sloppy, pastitsio should be able to proudly stand tall with each layer clearly visible on its mouthwateringly beautiful profile. Yes, I do love my pastitsio, is it that obvious?

Now, I know with lasagne lots of people go and add a cartful of veggies and make all sorts of adjustments. That would be fine here as well, but your end result would not be pastitsio. I’m sure it would be tasty, but I would have to object to the name being used in vain. The meat sauce has to be fairly simple, in fact even my recipe is quite a fancy version, and it has to be thick, not runny. It might be hard to find the proper pasta to use, it’s called bucatini (a thick spaghetti with a hole running through it), but it’s worth the search. If you really really really have to, use penne or rigatoni. I don’t think spaghetti is a good substitute. The béchamel, unlike lasagne, has egg in it which keeps it nice and thick (remember the standing tall thing).

Pastitsio is one of those with which you end up dirtying a hundred different pots and pans. That might have something to do with why I don’t make it that often… But it’s soo worth it. Here’s the recipe. It’s based on the one in the little Greek book “Recipes for children” by Mima Karvouni, a little gem of a book I use to find things to make for The Mister when I run out of ideas for food he might actually like rather than put up with (i.e. my usual blog experiment type cooking). For the meat sauce I use my slow cooker Bolognese recipe which is super tasty. Making it in the slow cooker is brilliant in this case, as you will see from all the steps below. You can make it the conventional way, there is a note in the same post for a stovetop method.

So, here goes… (ingredients are listed by order of appearance)

Pastitsio

Ingredients

500g bucatini pasta
2 Tbs margarine or butter or 1 Tbs oil (to keep the pasta from sticking)
1/2 c grated cheese (a hard yellow cheese would be best, like gruyere or parmesan or maybe manchego)
1 egg
salt & pepper
1 litre (approx. 4 cups) thick Bolognese sauce. Use this recipe BUT omit the stock to ensure a thicker consistency. It should be slightly thicker than what you would want from a sauce over a plate of pasta.

For the béchamel
100g margarine or butter
100g all purpose flour
1 litre milk
pinch of nutmeg
salt & white pepper (or black if not available)
1 egg

3/4 c grated cheese for topping
1/4 c breadcrumbs (not traditional, can be omitted)

Instructions

1. Boil pasta according to packet instructions, being careful not to overcook. Drain and add the 2 tablespoons of marge. Stir gently so that pasta is coated, then set aside to cool.
2. If you haven’t already made your meat sauce, do that now.
3. When the pasta has cooled a bit, add the egg and ½ cup of cheese, stirring gently till the pasta is coated with the mixture. Careful the egg doesn’t scramble.
4. Put half the pasta in a baking dish (mine is 30cm x 27cm – about 12”x10.5”), spread it around nicely and add the meat sauce in a layer on top. Then cover the meat sauce with the rest of the pasta, again spreading it out.
5. Make your béchamel. It’s important here that you have all the ingredients ready next to you. Melt the marge in a medium sized saucepan on medium to high heat, add the flour and mix well with a wooden spoon. You want the mixture to come together into a paste. Cook for a few minutes stirring constantly. Working quickly, switch the spoon for a whisk* (keep spoon next to you), lower heat to medium and add about half the milk while whisking quickly. Keep whisking till the mixture becomes smooth. It might thicken quickly, if it does then add the rest of the milk, without stopping the whisking. If it doesn’t, add the rest of the milk gradually (still whisking). When you are confident that the sauce is smooth, turn the heat up just a bit and switch back to your spoon. I find the spoon better at this stage as I can feel the bottom of the pan better and know if it’s catching. If it is, turn the heat back down to medium. Keep stirring, getting into the corners of the pan, till the sauce thickens a bit. It doesn’t need to be super thick as the egg will thicken it later. I stop when I can just see the bottom of the pan when the spoon swishes around during stirring.
6. Take the béchamel off the heat, add the nutmeg and some salt and pepper.
7. Preheat the oven to 200C (or 180C on fan).
8. When the béchamel has cooled just a bit, add the egg while stirring vigorously. Pour the sauce over the top layer of pasta in the dish.
9. Mix the ¾ cup cheese with the breadcrumbs and sprinkle over the top of the pastitsio.
10. Bake for about 45 to 50 minutes, until the top is nicely browned. Let the pastitsio rest before cutting and serving.

Note: (*) I find the best whisk for sauces and custards is the one pictured below. It gets into the corners of the pan better than the others, which are more suitable for bowls.

And a small announcement: In between writing steps 9 and 10 I found out that two of my recipes have made it to the final of the TGI Friday’s recipe competition. I’m a happy bunny!

Beets with Garlic, Yogurt and Cheese Crust (Au Gratin) – A Guest Post!

Tags

au gratin, beet, beet greens, beetroot, cheese, egg, Greek yogurt, vegetables, vegetarian, yogurt

Well, it’s done. The new blog is up. The Foodie Corner is live! Would you like to take a look? Yes it will all be Greek to you, but I’d love to hear what you think of the site!
 
Now I said I would try my best to keep Spaghetti going, and I will. And a few weeks ago I had a brainwave. Why not ask my friend and fellow blogger Artemis from Wonderfoodland, to step in with a guest post? She is the first Greek food blogger I ever met in person, and we clicked right away. I love her blog (which by the way is bilingual); from the recipes that always have a bit of a twist to them and her writing that discreetly reflects her wicked sense of humour, all the way to her gorgeous photos (putting mine to shame right here…). She has really come up with the goods here. This recipe is feeling right at home on On Top Of Spaghetti. So, enjoy!

§§§

There is this thing.
When I’m invited to write a guest post by another food blogger, I’m a little bit anxious.
What will it be?
Will my recipe “fit” properly into another blog?
Will the fellow blogger like it?
Will her/his readers like it too?
What do I have to write?

In this case, I guess my recipe choice was easy: Eleni is a beet lover. I know that. I’ve seen that. I’ve tasted that. I could never forget her beet chocolate brownies at the Food Revolution Day picnic.

My writing thing was easy also: I was lucky to get to know Eleni before her food blog adventures. And I’m really glad to know that another one follows her daring heart and does what she loves; cooking, writing, shooting, styling, sharing, communicating -not only through web and not only with food bloggers- but with anyone out there who loves food. In any way.

And I was really excited to see her beautiful “newborn”, The Foodie Corner, coming to life at last!

So, here I am, writing about beets myself too, finding the chance to get experimental and cooking something else rather than boiling them one more time!

These beets are for you, my dear Eleni!

Beets with Garlic, Yoghurt and Cheese Crust (Au Gratin)

Adapted recipe by Aglaia Kremezi

Ingredients

1 kg beets (leaves and half of the roots. The rest of the boiled beetroots eat them with some nice balsamic vinegar and olive oil)
2 Tbs all purpose flour
3 Tbs of olive oil + extra for greasing the baking dish
1 ½ cup milk (any kind of milk you love)
1 cup yoghurt (any kind of yoghurt you love)
3 garlic cloves mashed
2 eggs, slightly beaten
1 ½ cup grated cheese (use any kind of cheese you love that melts. I used a mix of several leftovers -Greek gruyere, gouda and kasseri, a yellow melty cheese)
3 stale slices of bread processed into crumbs (or rusk crumbs which is what I used)
salt, pepper

Instructions

1. Clean the beets: remove any not-so-good looking leaves, cut the roots from the leaves, cut the small “nose” of each beet on its other end and put them all into water baths to get washed very well -at least 3 water baths. Strain them and leave them aside.
2. Put a big pot full of water on to boil. When the water boils, put the beets in (leaves and roots). The leaves will boil quicker than roots, so in about 5 minutes check the leaves out. If they’re soft enough, take them out, but leave the roots in until they get soft too. Drain them, squeeze them (the leaves) with a fork to get most of their liquids out and set them aside.
3. Prepare the light béchamel: into a small pan, pour the 3 Tbs of olive oil on medium heat. Add the flour and start stirring quickly with a whisk until it gets slightly brown.
4. Add milk and keep stirring quickly on low heat. When it turns into a nice cream, remove it from heat and add garlic, salt and pepper. Stir well.
5. Add yoghurt, eggs and cheese too while still stirring well.
6. Preheat the oven to 200 C. Grease a baking dish that will fit the beets in a not very thin layer. I used several small baking dishes (one portion each).
7. Chop the beet leaves a little bit and the roots to very small cubes like dice. Mix half of the cream with the chopped beets (leaves and roots).
8. Spread breadcrumbs all over the dish, add the beets all over and cover with the other half of the cream.
9. Bake for about 30 minutes or until you get a golden crust. When baked, leave to rest for about 15-20′ before serving.

Mini Dukan Lemon Cheesecakes and a Sneak Preview of The Foodie Corner

Tags

baking, cheesecake, dessert, diet, dukan, Dukan diet friendly, egg, Greek yogurt, lemon, low fat, oat bran

Like it? The Foodie Corner is soon to become a reality. From wire frames and sample pages to a real live blog. Just a few weeks (or even days) away now! I know most of you won’t be able to follow me there as it’s going to be in Greek (unless you’ve been taking lessons?) but I really wanted to share this image here so you guys have a small sneak preview of what is to come. I have no intention of dropping On Top Of Spaghetti, and after the first few months of ups and downs I aim to be back blogging here as often as possible. In the meantime, what do you think? Cool isn’t it? I have been working with a fabulous team of designers and developers, whom I will introduce in a later post (when you have more than just the one image to see!). They have done such a great job. So I’m adding this little gem of a picture to my side bar!

At first I thought I would just post this without a recipe. But you know me. Can’t write anything on here without sharing something delicious. And today I have an extra special treat; a Dukan dessert. I’m not on this diet anymore, but once in a while I will have a Pure Protein day (or two) because it makes me feel better. Just to remind you, the diet is based on protein and vegetables, cutting out fat and carbs. I know the human body needs fat and carbs, but this human also needs to fit into certain jeans. So a little Dukan Attack here and there won’t kill me. Also, I enjoy thinking up recipes that will help those who are on the diet. Like this one!

These mini Dukan lemon cheesecakes are based on two recipes. The first is for Dukan cookies, which I thought could be my base if made in mini form (digestives and graham crackers are sadly not allowed!). The second is a lightened up version of lemon and blueberry cheesecake using lemon flavoured yogurt, on the blog “Whatever Gets You Through The Day”. Iris took part in a challenge and used a lemony yogurt to create this lovely looking dessert. It’s pretty light as it is but not quite suitable for the Dukan Diet, so I got to thinking of ways to adapt it. There is a dairy company here in Greece called Mevgal, which produces this amazing 1% lemon yogurt. It’s like no other I’ve ever tried. (And I’m not getting paid or compensated in any way for saying that! I just love it.) For a while now I’ve been thinking of making some sort of cheesecake with it, and this seemed like the perfect opportunity. So, with a bit of mixing and matching, I came up with these babies! I still can’t believe how close they are to real cheesecake! Ok, the base is not like a biscuit base, it’s much softer and -let’s be honest- not as tasty, but it does provide a nice contrast to the lemony filling. When I offered one to The Mister he didn’t believe they were Dukan approved, he was worried that at 23:50 I had finally given in and spoiled the Pure Protein day. Now that was a good sign. I had quite a bit of leftover filling because my mini muffin pan is very mini. So I just poured it into ramekins and baked it alongside the little guys, without a base. This too was very nice, I’ve just finished one now. Just sweet enough and very cheesecakey! This morning I had one with a teaspoon of raspberry jam on. Mmm! But that’s only for non-Dukaners. Right, I’ve gone on about this too much. Here is the recipe!

Mini Dukan Lemon Cheesecakes

Ingredients

For the base
1 egg
3 Tbs oat bran
1 tsp baking powder
1 Tbs Splenda or equivalent sweetener
2 Tbs plain yogurt (mine was 1.5% fat)

For the cheesecake filling
1 x 200g pot lemon flavoured Greek yogurt (mine was 1% fat)
100g low fat cream cheese (mine was 5% fat – a tiny cheat as it should be below 2%)
1 Tbs oat bran
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 Tbs Splenda or equivalent
2 egg whites (mine were pretty large)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 180C (160C fan)
2. For the base: Mix all the ingredients in a bowl. Pour mixture into a non-stick 12-hole mini muffin tin (a regular muffin tin would work too, you’d probably get 6 or 8). You only want a little bit of mixture in the bottom of each mould, remember this is the base. Pour any leftover mixture into individual muffin moulds, you can make more cheesecakes or leave them plain – they would be lovely with scrambled egg!
3. Bake for 10-15 minutes till lightly browned (see note at end).
4. In the meantime mix all the filling ingredients together (you can use the same bowl for less washing up! yay!).
5. Take the muffin tin out of the oven and pour filling over each little oat bran base. Fill to the top, these will rise a little then fall back down. Pour any leftover mixture into some ramekins or over the stray muffins from above. Pop them back in the oven for about 20-25 minutes till set and lightly browned (see note).
6. Take out of the oven. You will be excited at how nice and fluffy and risen these will look while baking; be prepared to see them sink back down! But that’s ok because they taste good.

Note: I think with these times mine turned out a little overbaked as they were sliiiightly dry. This might just be due to the ingredients, especially the oat bran, but I think it was the time in the oven. Iris made a whole cheesecake and baked hers for 25 minutes so I think my tiny muffins really didn’t need that long! I liked the fact that they were browning (goodness knows why) and left them, but next time I will check at 15′ by touching the surface. If it’s set I’ll take them out. Don’t forget the base has already been cooking quite a while.
Also noteworthy is the fact that these are much better the day after! Sounding all the more like proper cheesecake!

Slow Cooker Roast Beetroot and a Simple Lentil Salad

Tags

beetroot, crockpot, feta, lentils, salad, slow cooker, vegetables, vegetarian

The main recipe in this post hardly even merits the name “recipe”. It’s so easy and so simple. Roast beetroot in the slow cooker. I’m sure it’s been done before, but I haven’t researched it. So I can safely say it’s my idea! For as long as I can remember (or as long as it’s been on the blog) my most popular post is the Slow Cooker Jacket (Baked) Potato. I was pondering on this a few days ago, when the thought struck me. If you can just plop potatoes in there and bake to perfection, why can’t you do the same with beetroot? Many recipes call for roast beetroot, and the method they suggest is wrapping in foil and cooking in the oven for about an hour. Sound familiar? So instead of heating up the house and wasting loads of electricity, maybe it would be possible to use the mighty Crockpot for this. That was my reasoning. And I was right. As always.

I used the method without tinfoil, as using all that foil is wasteful and totally unnecessary. Just a bit of olive oil, some salt and that’s it. After six and a half hours on low, mine were cooked to perfection. They might have been ready earlier but that’s when I checked. The skins just slipped off with a tiny bit of help from the side of a knife. Gorgeous. If you can get your hands on some organic beets then you can probably eat the skin as well. I tasted a bit and it was not bad at all.

Can I just say here that I have absolutely nothing against the vacuum packed cooked beetroot from the supermarket. I have been buying this for ages (well, for the few years since I discovered I actually like beetroot). However, here in Greece you can easily find huge bunches of fresh beetroot, greens and all. This is even cheaper than the packaged version (which is not expensive) and the greens are really tasty in my Beet Green and Red Pepper Frittata. Now that cooking the actual beetroot has become so easy, I might be opting for the fresh more frequently. And if I can’t be bothered with using up the greens, the horses at my riding club will be very very appreciative!

Finally, because I really can’t post this without feeling I’ve cheated you out of a proper recipe, I’m including a salad I made with my cooked beetroot. Beetroot, lentil and feta salad! I’m thinking this might even be good with some canned tuna in it…

Slow Cooker Roast Beetroot

Ingredients

Fresh beetroot, as many as you like or as many as will fit in your slow cooker (you can stack them)
A little bit of olive oil
A little bit of coarse salt

Instructions

1. Cut the greens from your beetroot, leaving a bit of the stalks intact (about 2cm or an inch). Leave the tails intact. This is so that the beetroot doesn’t “bleed” while cooking. Wash them well, rubbing any dirt off but being careful not to break the skin. Dry with kitchen paper.
2. Using your hands, rub each beetroot with a bit of oil, and a little salt (don’t use too much salt as it is absorbed quite well).
3. Put into the slow cooker insert, cover, and cook on low for 6-8 hours. Time largely depends on quantity and size of beetroot. They are ready when easily pierced by a knife.

Beetroot, Lentil and Feta Salad

Makes enough for one big main course salad, or two side salads.

Ingredients

1/2 cup brown lentils, rinsed
1 small onion, peeled
1 bay leaf
1/4 tsp salt
2 cooked beetroot, medium-sized, cubed
100g feta cheese, cubed (or more, to taste)
1 Tbs olive oil
1 Tbs balsamic vinegar
pinch of dried thyme
black pepper to taste
pinch of salt (optional – if your feta is not salty enough)

Instructions

1. Put lentils in a small saucepan with the (whole) onion and bay leaf. Bring to a boil, add salt and simmer for 15-20 minutes till soft but not mushy.
2. Drain and set aside to cool. Throw away the onion and bay leaf.
3. Add the beetroot and feta to a salad bowl. When the lentils have cooled add those too. Dress the salad with the oil, vinegar and thyme and season with pepper and salt if needed.

Note: This is a basic, quick and easy recipe. You can mix and match as you like, using any ingredient you fancy! Next time I will definitely try adding tuna, or maybe smoked trout.

So I’ve cooked them. What do I do with them?
Lazy, Luscious Spiced Beetroot Relish, by Not Quite Nigella
Beetroot, Leek and Walnut Salad, by Lisa’s Kitchen
Beetroot Raita – Lightly Seasoned Beetroot and Yogurt Salad, by eCurry
Beetroot Brownies, by Yours Truly
Beetroot and Feta Dip, by Yours Truly