chopped fresh mint
Cook the spinach with the butter and no water whatsoever in a pan with a lid. Leave to cool, then strain off the liquid and chop the spinach finely. Season with salt and pepper and a little nutmeg. Beat together the cream cheese and eggs, then mix this with the spinach and mint.
To make each pastry, take a sheet of filo pastry and cut a strip about 10 x 20cm/4 x 8 inches. Lay it on a work surface and brush with melted butter. Before you add the filling, turn the top left-hand edge of the pastry over to meet the right-hand straight side (this forms the triangular shape), then unfold it. The mark left will show you where to put the filling. Place a tablespoon of the filling to the right side, refold the corner and seal the edges. Repeat the triangular folding until you have a complete packet. Brush with beaten egg, sprinkle with sesame seeds, place on a buttered baking tray and bake for about 30 minutes in an oven preheated to 200°C/400°F/Gas Mark 6. Serve hot or cold.
tzatziki
This wonderfully refreshing sauce, dip, starter, call it what you will, is very versatile. It can be used as an accompaniment to simple lamb souvlakia (kebabs), spread on little squares of bread as a snack with your apéritif, or served as a dip to go with mixed, raw vegetables (crudités) such as crisp batons of carrot, celery, spring onion etc.
| 1 | cucumber, unpeeled |
| 500g/1lb 2oz | best-quality Greek yoghurt |
| 6 | garlic cloves, very finely chopped, then crushed into a paste |
| olive oil | |
| wine vinegar | |
| sea salt |
Cut the cucumber lengthways in half, remove the seeds with a teaspoon and discard. Grate the cucumber on a cheese grater, put into a colander and sprinkle with sea salt. Leave to drain for 30 minutes-1 hour. Give it a good shake to make it as dry as possible.
Put the yoghurt into a bowl, whisk in the garlic paste and add the cucumber. Stir in well, then stir in a dash of olive oil and a dash of vinegar. Taste it and add a little more olive oil and vinegar if necessary (it must not be too runny). Refrigerate until required.
taramosalata
It is hard to find good taramosalata even in Greece. It is invariably made with anonymous fish roe, potatoes, ordinary oil and pink colouring and is, quite frankly, revolting! My version is expensive, excellent and simple. As with all the preceding mezze, this goes well with nicely charred, grilled pitta bread. It will taste even better if you can toast it over a charcoal grill.
| 2 | fat cloves of garlic, peeled |
| 100g/4oz | smoked cod’s roe – the best has the skin still attached, which needs to be painstakingly peeled off |
| finest-quality olive oil | |
| lemon juice | |
| some fine, fresh white breadcrumbs |
First purée the garlic in a food processor, then add the cod’s roe little by little until they are combined. As the food processor goes whizzing around, slowly and evenly pour in a thin stream of olive oil until you have a smooth paste. Next add some lemon juice to taste. Switch off the machine; you may find some olive oil has floated to the top. Switch on the machine again and add some breadcrumbs, a few at a time, until the excess oil has been absorbed.
stuffed vine leaves
Because these are fiddly to prepare, and because they are best eaten cold, it is wise to make them the day before you plan to eat them.
You could add finely minced lamb or beef to the filling, cooked with a little tomato sauce like a dry bolognese sauce.
| 50-60 | vine leaves (available in vacuum packs or, if you are lucky, loose in brine from a good specialist food shop) |
| 2 | large onions, finely chopped |
| 1 | bunch of peppery spring onions, very finely chopped. |
| 1 | good bunch of fresh dill, very finely chopped |
| 1 | bunch of fresh mint, finely chopped |
| 1½ cups | rice, well rinsed, drained and dried olive oil |
| juice of 4 | lemons |
| 500ml/18fl oz | tomato passata |
| sea salt and black pepper | |
| lemon wedges, to serve |
Blanch the vine leaves a few at a time in lightly salted boiling water, then cool them in a bowl of cold water. Drain and lay out flat on a work surface.
Mix together all the remaining ingredients except the lemon juice and tomato passata, adding a dash of olive oil. Place a small amount of the mixture on each leaf, turn in the sides and then roll them into
