It's All Greek

Sun Herald

Sunday May 25, 2008

By Karen Martini

With zesty lemon juice, fresh herbs, fetta and lashings of olive oil, a good Greek feast is hard to resist.

1. Split-pea dip with parsley and sumacThis dip is best eaten straightaway, while it's still warm. It's great

with crusty or pita bread, olives and chunks of fetta.

250g yellow split peas, soaked in boiling water for 1 hour

1 large potato, peeled and cut

into chunks

3 cloves garlic, peeled

60-80ml extra virgin olive oil,

plus extra

1 lemon, juiced

sea salt and freshly cracked

black pepper

4 sprigs flat-leaf parsley

4 sprigs mint

1 tbsp sumac

crusty bread, to serve

SERVES 6-8

Drain peas and place in a large saucepan with potato and garlic. Cover with cold water, bring to the boil and simmer for 30-40 minutes or until peas are tender. Drain, reserving 1/2 cup cooking water.

Process pea mixture in a food processor until well combined. Add oil and lemon juice and process until smooth, adding some of the cooking water to make a dip consistency, if necessary. Season with salt and pepper.

Spread dip on serving plate, scatter over herbs, drizzle with extra oil and sprinkle with sumac. Serve with crusty bread for dipping, if desired.

2. Marinated lamb shoulder with lemon and cracked wheat salad

This rich, luxurious meat is tender and delicious. Serve it on a platter and let your guests graze. Marinate this dish for at least five hours.

2 lemons, juiced and zest

finely grated

2 handfuls fresh oregano, chopped, or 1 handful dried oregano

2 sprigs fresh rosemary, chopped

100ml extra virgin olive oil

3 cloves garlic, pounded with 1 tbsp flaked salt

freshly cracked black pepper,

to taste

1.2kg shoulder lamb, boned

warm pita bread, to serve (optional)

Salad

1 cup finely cracked wheat

2 bunches chicory, trimmed and

cut into 3-4cm lengths

1/2 bunch flat-leaf parsley, chopped

2 small lemons, juiced

120ml extra virgin olive oil

sea salt and freshly cracked

black pepper

200g fetta cheese,

coarsely crumbled

SERVES 6

For lamb, combine lemon juice and zest, herbs, olive oil, garlic and pepper. Spread mixture over both sides of lamb. Cover and place in refrigerator for 5-6 hours or overnight.

Preheat fan-forced oven to 150C (170C conventional). Place lamb and marinade in a baking dish, cover tightly with foil and bake for 3 hours. Remove foil and drain off half the juices. Increase oven heat to 250C, or heat grill to hot, and brown lamb for 5-8 minutes or until crisp. Turn off oven and rest lamb in oven for 15 minutes. Remove and shred meat.

For salad, place cracked wheat in a bowl and just cover with boiling water. Set aside for 15 minutes or until water is absorbed and wheat is tender. Cook chicory in boiling water for 2-3 minutes, then drain, refresh under cold water and squeeze to remove excess water. Add chicory and parsley to cracked wheat and stir well. Combine lemon juice, oil, salt and pepper in a small bowl and whisk well. Pour over wheat salad, toss and set aside for 15 minutes.

To serve, spread wheat salad on a platter, top with lamb and scatter over fetta. Serve with warm pita bread, if desired.

3. Ricotta and fetta fritters with walnut and yoghurt sauce

This is a great mezze-style starter. You can serve the fritters as an entree or light lunch, or make them smaller to serve as finger food.

350g ricotta, well-drained

2 small eggs

3 tbsp plain flour, plus 4 tbsp extra

freshly cracked black pepper

100g Greek fetta, crumbled

extra virgin olive oil,

for shallow-frying

1/2 cup toasted walnuts,

coarsely chopped

2 handfuls mint, chopped

Sauce

1 cup plain yoghurt

? clove garlic, chopped

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1/2 lemon, juiced

SERVES 10

For fritters, combine ricotta, eggs, flour and pepper in a bowl, then crumble in fetta. Rest, refrigerated, for 20 minutes. Form 2 tablespoons mixture into each fritter and dust in extra flour. Heat olive oil in a large non-stick pan over medium heat and fry fritters a few at a time for 2 minutes on each side or until golden and cooked. Drain on absorbent paper.

For sauce, combine yoghurt, garlic, oil and lemon juice in a bowl and mix well.

To serve, drizzle fritters with sauce and top with walnuts and mint.

With a glass of...

1 OUZO

Split-pea dip with parsley and sumac

2 PINOT NOIR

Marinated lamb shoulder with lemon and cracked wheat salad

3 CHARDONNAY

Ricotta and fetta fritters with walnut and yoghurt sauce

Food for thought

If you are feeding a big group, try this. While the lamb (see recipe, page 35) is browning, wrap pita bread in foil and heat in oven. Shred cooked lamb, season and sprinkle with 2 tbsp sumac. Then dice 5 tomatoes, chop 2 handfuls flat-leaf parsley and mix with extra virgin olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. Slice 1 red onion into half moons and finely shred 1/2 cos lettuce. Place meat, bread, salad, onion, lettuce and yoghurt dressing (see recipe, above) or split-pea dip (page 35) on the table for your guests to make lamb wraps.

© 2008 Sun Herald

Back to News Index | Back to Home