Peloponnesian pasta
Greece and its sun-kissed islands offer tantalizing cuisine that is fresh and fragrant, served with warmth and vibrancy. The Greeks’ enthusiasm for the good life and love of simple, well-seasoned food are reflected at the table. Theirs is an unassuming kitchen that makes the most of its surroundings.
It is a cuisine steeped in history and enhanced by the cultures of its neighbors for centuries: Turkey, the Middle East and the Balkans.
This land of blue skies and sparkling seas offers a variety of fresh ingredients within easy reach. Olive trees flourish, providing a flavorful oil to dip other foods in. Vineyards thread the rolling hills, and crushed and fermented grapes produce excellent wines. Fragrant lemon trees produce the flavor that permeates Greek cuisine.
About a fifth of Greece is made up of islands, and no part of Greece is more than 85 miles from the sea. These seas are blessed with a variety of seafood and harborside taverns where fresh fish is served grilled, baked and fried and often whole, with the head still on.
Lamb is the main meat served. For everyday meals, lamb is braised and stewed in pots with assorted vegetables and skewered and grilled. Pork, beef, and game are marinated, grilled, and baked. The chicken is roasted or stewed. Good combinations of meat and vegetables are endless, often garnished with golden lemon sauce, avgolemono, or a cinnamon-spiced tomato sauce.
Moussaka, layered with eggplant or zucchini and a garlic-infused meat sauce with a custard dressing, is the ubiquitous casserole dish. The pilafs are flavored with spices and nuts. Composed of wafer-thin dough and layered with chicken and mushrooms, spinach and feta, or lamb and leeks, the fillo pitas are a delight.
An abundance of fresh vegetables inspires dishes and salads of imaginatively cooked and marinated vegetables, often flavored with regional herbs grown in the mountains: garlic, oregano, mint, basil and dill. Fresh feta, Romano and Kasseri cheeses, in particular, are used extensively to accompany homemade whole-grain breads or salads or to grate and top vegetables or pasta.
Without a doubt, baklava is the most famous cake, a multi-layered sweet, with ribbons of nuts and brimming with honey syrup. A visit to a Greek pastry shop reveals the versatility of fillo dough in dozens of different fillo cakes, many of Turkish origin. Honey-filled pastries and buttered pecan cookies make up a separate late-afternoon meal accompanied by thick Greek coffee.
greek pasta
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1/2 cup sliced black olives
1/2 cup red onions, sliced into wheels
1 green bell pepper chopped
1 plum tomato, chopped
feta cheese (to your taste)
1 cup of your favorite Greek oil dressing
spaghetti (cooked)
Cut the chicken into pieces and sauté in olive oil until cooked. Add olives, red onion and green bell pepper; fry until softened. Add spaghetti, dressing, feta cheese, and tomato. Stir fry until fully heated through and well combined.
