When last did you enjoy a Delicious Traditional Greek Meal?
I’ve always loved Greek food and lately, and I have been following traditional ones. So tonight I decided on a full-on Greek meal starting with Garlic and Feta pull-apart rolls, Keftedes (Greek Meatballs), Fasolakia (Greek Green Bean Casserole) and then the toss between Greek Salad and Tzatziki, of course, Tzatziki won! What a delicious meal!
Garlic and Feta Pull-Apart Rolls
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup olive oil
- 1-2 cloves garlic, grated
- 1 tsp Greek oregano Mix the above in a glass bowl and microwave for 15 seconds. Set aside.
In a processor add:
- 800g sifted flour
- 1 sachet instant yeast
- 3 tbsp olive oil
Pulse a few seconds to mix then add
- 150g crumbled feta cheese
- 500g water
Method:
- Pulse a few more times until it is all combined.
- Toss onto a floured surface and knead into a dough.
- Place into a bowl and cover with cling wrap and set aside for 1 hour.
- Preheat oven to 160 °C.
- Grease a round pan with a few drizzles of olive oil.
- Pinch off pieces of dough and form golf ball sized rolls.
- Fill the pan.
- Brush each one evenly with the garlic/oregano oil you had set aside
- Bake for approximately 45 minutes.
Keftedes: Greek Meatballs (With Lemony Sauce)
Ingredients
- 1 red onion, grated
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 slice, day-old bread, soaked in milk
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 1 kg lean ground beef
- 1 large egg PLUS 1 egg yolk, divided
- ¼ cup chopped fresh mint leaves
- 2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
- 1 tsp ground coriander
- 1 tsp dried oregano, preferably Greek oregano
- ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- ¼ tsp ground nutmeg
- Salt and pepper
- 3 lemons, zested and juiced
- Flour for dredging
- 1¼ cups chicken stock
Method:
- Wring the excess milk out of the soaked bread.
- To a mixing bowl add the ground beef, onion, the bread. garlic, 1 egg, mint, parsley, spices, salt and pepper, and 1 tbsp lemon zest.
- Mix by hand until the mixture is fully incorporated.
- Form the meat mixture into balls (each the size of a heaping tablespoon.) and place them on a large tray and refrigerate for 1 hour.
- Roll meatballs into the flour to lightly coat. In a large skillet, add 1/4 cup olive oil.
- Heat over medium-high.
- Turn heat to medium and add the meatballs to cook (do this in batches if you need to.)
- Cook meatballs for 10 minutes or so, turning occasionally, until fully cooked and well-crusted on all sides.
- Remove meatballs from skillet onto paper towels.
- Discard most of the cooking fat from skillet.
- Return skillet to stove-top over medium heat.
- Whisk the 1 egg yolk with the chicken stock and lemon juice.
- Add to cooking skillet with the remaining lemon zest, then add the meatballs back in.
- Cook over medium heat for another 5 minutes until the lemon sauce thickens.
How about you add Fasolakia (Greek Green Bean Casserole) to your Delicious Traditional Greek Meal
Ingredients
- 500gr Green beans washed and ends trimmed
- ½ cup olive oil
- 1 medium onion, finely chopped
- 4 garlic cloves, grated
- 1 (28oz) can tomatoes, pureed
- 3 potatoes, peeled and quartered
- 1½ cups water (I used chicken stock – hardly ever use plain water 😏)
- 1½ tsp salt (used 1 tsp ços of stock)
- 1 tsp ground black pepper
- ¼ tsp crushed pepper flakes
- 1 tsp dried dill
- 1 tbsp fresh chopped parsley
- Feta cheese for serving
Method:
- Cook the onions in the olive oil over medium heat till golden (about 10 minutes).
- Add garlic and cook 20 seconds till warmed through.
- Add green beans and potatoes, tomatoes and spices.
- Now add the water and bring to a boil.
- Cover, reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes until vegetables tender and sauce reduced.
- Uncover, mix and raise heat to high and cook a further 15 minutes, stirring often until sauce thickens.
- Stir in the parsley.
Tzatziki
Ingredients
- 3/4 English cucumber, partially peeled
- 1 tsp kosher salt, divided
- 4 to 5 garlic cloves, peeled, finely grated or minced (you can use less if you prefer)
- 1 tsp white vinegar
- 1 tbsp chopped fresh dill
- 2 cups Greek yogurt
- 1 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 1/4 tsp white pepper
Method
- Grate the cucumber.
- Toss with ½ tsp kosher salt.
- Transfer to a fine-mesh strainer (sieve) over a deep bowl to drain.
- Spoon the grated cucumber into a cheesecloth or a double thickness clean tea towel and squeeze dry. Set aside.
- In another bowl, place the garlic with the remaining 1/2 tsp salt, white vinegar, and olive oil. Mix to combine.
- Add the cucumber. Give it a quick mix.
- Stir in the yogurt and pepper. Combine thoroughly.
- Cover tightly and refrigerate for a couple of hours.
- When ready to serve, stir the tzatziki sauce to refresh and drizzle with more olive oil.
What more can you ask for a treat than this Delicious Traditional Greek Meal?
Prepared, tried and tested Melanie Kramar
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Hi Esme, this is a mind blowing post!👍 This is a full on Greek buffet table. I hopped over to my fridge to check if I had all the ingredients for the Green bean casserole…voila I have everything including fresh parsley. Definitely making this tomorrow! I’ll let you know how it turned out.
Hi Talat, this is so great and I would love to have your feedback and what you think of it. Hope you and your boys will like it.
Those garlic and feta pull apart rolls look dreamy. I have to try them.
Hi Jenny, I totally agree with you, but I will have to make them GF