Our parents’ generation grew up during very difficult times in Greece. World War II followed by the Greek Civil War resulted in widespread poverty and unrest. They don’ talk about it very much, but the few stories they do share are pretty harrowing. While our own working-class, immigrant upbringing was modest by American standards, compared to what our parents endured we grew up in the lap of luxury: plenty of food on the table, clean clothes on our backs, and a roof over our heads in a safe environment. Like a lot of American kids we were picky eaters, which was frustrating for parents who knew what it was to be truly hungry. Our Yiayia used to shake her head in disbelief when we rejected the food placed in front of us. One meal that we would always eat was Yahnista Macaronia. For our parents, this food is a symbol of poverty — they ate this in Greece because they had nothing else — so it is more than a little ironic that this is one of our all-time favorite meals. It is one of those simple comfort foods that fills your belly and makes you happy. The spaghetti is cooked in sort of a tomato-onion broth. When the starch from the pasta is released into the broth it transforms into a delicious sauce that coats every bite. Here is how you make it: 

All you will need is spaghetti, one onion, olive oil, water, salt,  pepper, and some form of tomato. We like to use canned pureed tomato because of the smooth, thick consistency. If it is tomato season you can add pureed fresh tomato and it will amp up the flavor.

Dice the onion and sauté in olive oil until translucent. Add the tomato puree and cook for about 15 minutes.

Add 5 cups of water and bring to a boil.

Add 1 tablespoon salt and spaghetti.

It will look like there is not enough water in your pot, but that is the secret to this dish. If you add too much water you’ll wind up with a watery, flavorless sauce. In order to prevent the pasta from sticking, you need to stir frequently. Keep a small pot of water simmering on the stove in case you need to add a bit, but do so with caution. Less water=more flavor. Cook for about 1 or 2 minutes less than what is stated on the package directions. Remove the pot from the heat and let it sit, covered, for about 3 minutes to let the sauce thicken. Add pepper to taste.Serve immediately. Yum.

Yahnista Macaronia (Poor Man’s Spaghetti)

Serves 4

Source: Athena Merianos 

2 T olive oil

1 small onion, chopped

1-2 cups tomato puree (you can also use crushed tomatoes, tomato paste or fresh tomatoes. Adjust the amount of tomato to suit your taste)

5 cups water

1 lb pasta

1 T salt

pepper to taste

In a medium sized pot, heat oil over medium heat and add chopped onion. Saute until translucent. Add tomato and bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for about 15 minutes. Add 5 cups water and bring to a boil. Add salt, pepper and pasta. Adjust heat so the water doesn’t boil too rapidly and stir frequently to keep pasta from sticking (keep small saucepan of water simmering nearby in case you need to add more to the pot to prevent sticking). Cook 1-2 minutes less than package directions. Most of the water should be absorbed leaving a thin tomato sauce. Remove from heat and let sit for 3 minutes. Stir to distribute the sauce, adjust seasoning and serve immediately.

Original article: Yahnista Macaronia (Poor Man’s Spaghetti).

Don’t you want a bite of that right now? Lagana is basically the Greek version of focaccia — both are flat breads baked with olive oil. Focaccia is usually soft throughout but lagana has a crunchy crust with a soft center. Lagana was a special treat in our house when we were growing up. Yiayia baked bread almost every week, and if we were lucky she would save some of the dough to make a pan of lagana that would be devoured in minutes. It is insanely good, especially if you use high quality olive oil. We are lucky to receive a steady supply of amazing olive oil from our family’s village of Krokees, and that is what we used here. To make lagana, follow the basic instructions for Yiayia’s Bread. We have adjusted the ingredients in the recipe below to make enough dough for one pan of lagana.  If you don’t have the time, energy or desire to make your own dough you could use ready-made pizza dough. It won’t be as delicious as the homemade version, but it will still taste pretty great. 

Coat a shallow pan with about 1 tablespoon of olive oil.

Add dough to the pan and stretch it gently with your hands…

until it looks like this.

Score the dough before baking, drizzle with about 1 tablespoon of olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt or kosher salt.  Cover and let rise for about 30 minutes. Poke a hole in each square with a toothpick and place in a COLD oven. Set the oven to 450. When the oven reaches 450 continue baking the lagana for about 25 minutes or until it is golden brown.

Slice and enjoy.  Trust us, it won’t last long.

1 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 teaspoon yeast
2 cups warm water
1/2 cup water
2 T good quality olive oil
3/4 teaspoon sea salt or kosher salt

Follow the instructions for YiaYia’s Bread found here. After the dough has risen twice (or if you are using ready-made pizza dough) proceed with the instructions below.

Spread about 1 T of olive oil onto the bottom of a 12×17 pan. You could use a jelly roll pan or other shallow baking pan with sides. Place the dough in the center of the pan and use your hands to gently and evenly spread the dough out to the sides of the pan. Score the dough (cut lightly, not all the way through) into squares .

Drizzle the top of the dough with olive oil and spread the oil over the dough with your hands. Sprinkle the dough with sea salt or kosher salt to taste. Cover the prepared dough with plastic wrap followed by a clean towel and let sit for approximately 30 minutes so the dough can rise one more time.

Poke each square with a toothpick. Set your oven to 450 and place the prepared pan into the cold oven. Do NOT preheat the oven. When the oven temperature reaches 450, bake for an additional 25 minutes or until bread is golden brown.

© kouzina cousins. 2014.

Original article: Lagana.

Given the frigid temps we’ve been dealing with in the Northeast it’s hard to believe that lent started last week and Easter is around the corner. During lent, Greek Orthodox Christians practice varying degrees of “fasting”. No, not a trendy juice fast. In the Greek church, fasting means abstaining from all animal products: meat, dairy, eggs, and most fish. Some fast for the entire 40 day lenten period, some only on Wednesdays and Fridays, others just during Holy Week. In our house lent meant peanut butter sandwiches in our lunch boxes and plenty of Lentil Soup. Luckily this soup is delicious, especially with a hunk of fresh homemade bread on the side. As an added bonus, using the Greek word for this soup – “fakes” (fah-KESS) – lets you feel like you are getting away with swearing at the dinner table. :) 

Lentil Soup (Fakes) Serves 6-8

Source: Athena Merianos via Effie Eraklis

1 lb. bag dry lentils

9 cups of water

1 large onion, diced

1 carrot, diced (optional)

2-3 garlic cloves, diced

2-3 bay leaves

1 TBLS cumin

1 6 oz. can tomato sauce

1/4 cup olive oil

Salt and pepper (to taste, some people leave it out completely)

Red wine vinegar (for serving)

Pick through the dry lentils to remove any small pebbles or discolored beans. Add the lentils to a large pot with about 9 cups of water (the water should be about four times the height of the lentils)*.   Add the onion, carrot (if using), garlic and bay leaves.  SLOWLY bring to a boil and then reduce heat to a rapid simmer and cook, uncovered, for 30 minutes. Be sure not to bring to a boil too quickly or simmer at too high a heat because that will cause the lentils to pop open.

Add tomato sauce, cumin, salt & pepper (if using) and cook for 15 minutes more. Add olive oil and cook for an additional 15 minutes or until beans are soft. Adjust seasoning to suit taste. Total cooking time is one hour.

Once the soup is served, each person can (and should!) add a splash or two of red wine vinegar to his/her bowl. The vinegar really brings this soup alive, but too much can be overpowering. As Thea Athenoula said when she was teaching me how to make this ‘you can always put more, but you can’t take it out if you put too much…ok?’.

*Feel free to adjust the water according to your preference. More water will make it soupier, less water will make it thicker. You may want to keep a small pot or kettle of water boiling on the side. That way if the beans have absorbed a lot of water and are still hard, or the soup is looking too thick, you can adjust by adding a bit of hot water.

 Serving suggestions: As we mentioned above, this soup is perfect with a great crusty bread for dipping.  Try it with some feta sprinkled on top – so good! Also, although it’s intended as a hot soup, cold leftovers are delicious.

Photos: Effie Eraklis

Original article: Lentil Soup (Fakes).

We had the most wonderful yiayia (grandmother) you could imagine.  She was sweet and fun, and was always ready to give family, friends, and strangers a hug and a smile…and bread. Yiayia made this amazing bread, by hand, every week.  Yiayia’s bread was on our table at every meal and while it always tasted good, to eat it fresh out of the oven was complete joy.  Our mother and aunt still make this bread a couple of times a month, and took the time to teach us the recipe, but to us this will always be yiayia’s bread. She was a special lady, and this is her famous bread. 

Combine yeast and 2 cups warm water and set aside to allow yeast to activate.

Sift white and wheat flour into a large bowl to aerate the flour. After you sift the wheat flour there may be larger wheat husks left behind in the sifter. Add those into the bowl, too. Add salt and combine with your hands.

Make a well in the center and add oil. Stir reserved yeast and water to combine and add to the well.

Knead the dough until it is sticky and tough and pulls away from the bowl. Fill a large bowl with 3-4 cups of warm water. Wet your hands in the warm water and continue to knead the dough, repeating this process (wet hands, knead) until the dough has softened up a bit, the sides of the bowl are clean, and excess water has been absorbed.

Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and blankets to keep warm and let the dough rise for 2 hours, or until the dough has doubled in size and springs back when you press on it.

Knead dough again (about 5 or 10 punches), re-cover with plastic and blankets, and let it rest about 30 minutes or until it puffs back up to double original size.

Shape into free form loaves or use oiled loaf pans.  Use a knife to poke a few holes in the top of each loaf before placing them in the oven.

Bake at 350 degrees for about 1 hour or until the bread is golden brown and makes a hollow sound when you knock on it.  Let cool for at least 30 minutes. Slice. Devour.

Bread (makes 5-6 loaves of bread)

Original article: YiaYia’s Bread.

After the gluttony of Thanksgiving, does anyone else feel the need to ingest nothing but vegetables for the next couple of days?  If so, here is a recipe for you — but first you should understand something about Greek vegetables.  They are shall we say “cooked through”.  Never crisp or crunchy. When we were kids we might have described them as “mushy”, but now that we are all grown up and know better we use the term “velvety” instead.

Here’s how you make them… 

You’ll need green beans, onion, either fresh or canned tomatoes, parsley, salt & pepper

Saute a diced onion in some olive oil until soft.

Add the green beans to the pot and sauté for about 5 minutes, then add just a little water and cover.

Peel a couple of fresh tomatoes, dice them, and add some salt. Let them sit a bit.  Or just use about a cup of canned crushed tomatoes. See the complete recipe below for more about fresh vs canned tomatoes. It’s fascinating.

Add the tomatoes to the green beans. Combine well, then cover and cook over medium heat for about 30 minutes.

Before serving, sprinkle with fresh parsley.

Kali Orexi !

Fasolakia Yahni  (Green beans in tomato sauce) Serves 4-6

Source: Athena Merianos

Original article: Fasolakia Yahni (Green Beans in Tomato Sauce).