Keep a careful eye on the Lalagithes and turn them until they are golden brown on all sides. If Lalagithes start to get too brown, too quickly you should reduce the heat a bit.

Original article: Lalagithes (Fried Dough for the Feast of Theophany).

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.

Arguably the most famous of Greek dishes, no gathering of Greeks is complete without Spanakopita. This is one of those recipes that our mothers and aunts know how to make with their eyes closed. They don’t measure anything, and when you ask them how much of an ingredient to use they say things like “αρκετό” (enough) or “μπόλικο” (a lot). Not very helpful, right? Our Mom was starting to get a little annoyed with us while she made this Spanakopita because we kept stopping her to measure things. You will see her beautiful hands in a lot of these pictures. Those hands make a mean Spanakopita. 

For the filling you’ll need spinach, leeks, scallions, dill, parsley, eggs and, of course, feta cheese.

Split the leek lengthwise and rinse it under cold water to remove any dirt. Then split it lengthwise again, and chop it up. Chop the scallions while you’re at it.

Saute the leek and scallions in olive oil until they are soft, then set the pan aside to let them cool a bit.

Add spinach leaves to a large bowl. Sprinkle with salt and massage the leaves to soften them up and wilt them.  We used baby spinach here.  If you use regular spinach you will want to remove the thick stems and chop the leaves up a bit.  You can also use frozen spinach. Just defrost it first and then squeeze out all of the excess liquid. So many options.

Crumble 2/3 of the feta into the spinach. Note how the spinach looks after it has been  “massaged”. It is wilted and has reduced in volume.

Chop up the parsley and dill.

Add the chopped parsley and dill to the spinach, along with the sautéed leeks and scallions. Combine very well and then drizzle with olive oil. Beat eggs in a small bowl until just combined and add to spinach mixture. Combine well and set spinach mixture aside.

Grab your pan.  We used a 13×9 inch pan with 2 inch sides. Brush the pan with olive oil and then lay 2 sheets of phyllo across the bottom of the pan. The phyllo should hang over the sides of the pan. Brush the phyllo with more olive oil, and then repeat with 2 more sheets of phyllo. See our post on Tiropitakia for more detail about working with phyllo dough. You will be using whole sheets of phyllo here, so no need to cut them in advance.  If you are not as quick with phyllo dough as our Mom, you should cover the sheets that are not in use with a slightly damp cloth so that they don’t dry out. 

Pour the spinach mixture into the pan, then take the rest of the feta cheese and sprinkle it evenly over the spinach.

Fold the overhanging phyllo 2 sheets at a time into the pan to partially cover the spinach mixture. Brush with olive oil.  Repeat with the remaining 2 sheets of overhanging phyllo.

Fold one sheet of phyllo in half and lay it over the exposed spinach. Brush with olive oil.

Cover the entire pan with 1 full sheet of phyllo.  Using a sharp knife or kitchen scissors, cut around the edges of the phyllo so that it is just slightly larger than the internal perimeter of the pan and then use a knife to tuck the edges of the phyllo neatly down into the sides of the pan. Brush with olive oil. Repeat with 3 more sheets of phyllo, brushing with olive oil between each layer.  Sprinkle a little water over the entire pan to help the sheets of phyllo stick together when you cut into the spanakopita.

Before you pop this in the oven, you need to score the phyllo (cut it, but not very thoroughly).  You can make the portions as large or small as you would like.  We made 3 horizontal cuts to create 4 rows, and then made vertical cuts on the diagonal to create diamond shaped pieces.

Bake at 350 degrees for about 1 hour, or until it looks as golden as this and your house smells like Greek heaven.  Let it cool for about 15 minutes before cutting, using the lines you cut before baking as your guide.

Spanakopita can be enjoyed warm or at room temperature.

Spanakopita (Spinach Pie)

Source: Athena Merianos

Original article: Spanakopita (Spinach Pie).

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).