Tasty fava bean puree

27. January 202528. June 2023 by Dio Pigadia

Tasty fava bean puree

Course: SideDifficulty: Easy

Servings

servings

Prep time

minutes

Cooking time

minutes

Total time

minutes

This puree recipe is made using a traditional Greek recipe of fava beans. It is always on the menu of any Greek restaurant, and for a reason: it is soo good!

Ingredients

500 gr dried fava beans
1 large onion
Lemon juice
White vinegar
Olive oil
Salt, pepper

Directions

Let the fava beans soak for 12 hours minimum
Cook them by adding water whenever it is needed until it’s soft (around 30 minutes)
During this time chop finely the onion
Blend the fava until the consistency is smooth
When the fava puree is cold, add the rest of the ingredients depending on your taste

Notes

Mallau’s “donkey ears” gratin d’oreilles d’âne

27. January 202521. June 2023 by Dio Pigadia

Mallau’s “donkey ears” gratin d’oreilles d’âne

Course: DinnerCuisine: FrenchDifficulty: Medium

Servings

servings

Prep time

minutes

Cooking time

minutes

Calorieskcal

Total time

hour

This dish is native of the Alps, in France and gets this strange name from the main ingredient: the tetragon. This plant is a wild form of spinach also called, in France, “donkey’s ears”. So no worries, Vouno, our donkey was not harmed in the making of this recipe.

Ingredients

For the crepes
500 gr of flour (don’t be scared to make leftovers in the worst case scenario you have a nice desert)
4 eggs
1 L of milk
For the béchamel
50 gr of butter
50 gr of flour
50 cl of milk
Salt, pepper and grated nutmeg
For the filling
Big bucket of tetragon (use spinach if you don’t have this)
250 gr (or more) feta
2 onions
4 garlic cloves
Salt and pepper
Mushrooms (optional)

Directions

Crêpes
Mix all the ingredients together and make sure to make no lumps by adding the milk slowly at the end. Salt the batter and cook it in a pan with warm oil.
Béchamel
Cook the flour and the butter together until it gets brown.
When it is homogeneous add slowly the milk while stirring it.
Cook it until it gets really thick and then turn the fire off and add the spices.
Filling and cooking
Chop the onions and grill them in a pan. At the last minute add the chopped spinach, garlic, salt and pepper.
In an oven dish put (just like a lasagna) : a layer of crepes, a layer of veggies and cheese, and then the bechamel. Finish up with a layer of crepes, bechamel and grated feta.
Roast it in the oven for 20 minutes at 180c to 200c degrees.

Notes

A trick to make it vegan: yes it is possible, especially if you have great olive oil to substitute the butter with. Crepes can be made without the eggs and with vegan milk or even water. And if you don’t put feta just make sure to nail the spices amount into the veggies and it will be make delicious vegan donkey ears!

Clem’s stuffed zucchini flowers

27. January 202516. June 2023 by Dio Pigadia

Clem’s stuffed zucchini flowers

Course: Dinner, lunchDifficulty: Medium

Servings

servings

Prep time

minutes

Cooking time

minutes

Total time

minutes

Ingredients

Zucchini male flowers (15 to 20 depending on the size)
250 gr feta cheese
2 medium to large zucchinis
A bouquet of mint
Olive oil
Salt, pepper
Lemon and garlic (optional)

Directions

Clean and remove the stamen (equivalent of pistil but for male flowers) of the flowers
Heat the oven at 180/200c degrees.
In a bowl shred the feta, the zucchinis and the mint. Add the spices and mix.
Stuff the flowers with the mix, turn the petals softly to close them and put them on an oven plate with some oil on top (you can also add some feta crumbles on top)
Cook it for 15min under an aluminum foil and bon appetit!

Notes

The female flowers turn into fruits but if you have too many you can use them as well 🙂

Mathéo’s sourdough care instructions

27. January 202514. June 2023 by Dio Pigadia

Mathéo’s sourdough care instructions

Difficulty: Medium

These guidelines are a mix of Annie´s recipe and Mathéo’s experience of taking care of Dio Pigadia’s sourdough.

Ingredients

First day
50 gr of whole wheat flour
50 ml filtered water
Second day
100 gr whole wheat flour
100 ml filtered water
1 heaped tsp of organic honey
Third day
200 gr of whole wheat flour
200 ml filtered water

Directions

Mix the ingredients together in a big pot following each day ingredients. After the third day (and 12hrs after the last ingredients are added), you should see bubbles starting to form and see the level of the sourdough elevate a little.
Now that the fermentation is ready, you need to give food to your sourdough everytime you take some or, every third day. The amount of food (flour and water), depends on the weight of the actual sourdough you got.

So, if the total weight is 100g (remove the weight of the pot, that you previously weighted) ; the weight of the water should be 25% so 25g and the same thing for the flour, so 25g.

In total, you always feed 50% of the total weight. You do the same thing for the next feeding days.
You can mix the ingredients before mixing them in the jar to make sure that it is homogeneous.

Notes

When there is bubbles and the level of the sourdough elevate, it means that the fermentation is going well. It normally elevates 2 to 3 times its initial volume (put an elastic around the jar to know how much it goes up).
Always use really clean bottles (sterilized) and tools. Use glass container and not plastic. Use non-chlorine water. Use organic whole wheat flour. Use organic honey.
Be consistent on the feeding days, more the room is hot and sunny, faster is the fermentation. If you want to slow it, put it in the fridge. Under 6C the good bacterias are killed. If your sourdough is in a room temperature environment (15 to 25C) you need to feed it every three days, more or so. If you keep it in the fridge for slowing down the fermentation, feed it every week, more or so.
Be precise about the quantities of the ingredients you put in the sourdough, it can influence the fermentation.
If there is no more bubbles, the smell changes, there is a possibility that the sourdough is dead, then you need to throw everything out.

Kate’s herbed snail rolls

27. January 202512. June 2023 by Dio Pigadia

Kate’s herbed snail rolls

Difficulty: Medium

Servings

servings

Prep time

minutes

Cooking time

minutes

Resting time

3 h + 20 min

Total time

minutes

Do not picture a little creature in the wild grass but a tasty, nice looking bread to change the routine of the classic (none the less delicious) rounded bread.

Ingredients

For the dough
1 kg of flour
10 grams of fresh or 1 tsp of dry yeast
50 ml of olive oil
1 heaped tsp of salt
Lukewarm water
2 eggs (optional)
For the filling
2 thick bunches of fresh herbs to taste: rosemary, thyme, oregano
4 garlic cloves
5 tbsp olives
Salt, pepper
Optional additions: olives, feta, dried tomatoes

Directions

Knead the dough ingredients into a yeast dough, adding just enough water so that the dough does not sticks to the sides of the bowl.
Leave to rise at room temperature for 2-3 hours until doubled in size.
Knead again and prepare the filling:
Clean and chop the herbs, finely slice or chop the garlic.
Mix with the oil and season very well with salt and pepper.
Roll out the dough to a thickness of approx. 1cm on a surface of at least 40*60cm.
Spread with the herb mixture (spread additional ingredients on top) and roll.
Cut into 4-5cm thick slices and place on a greased baking tray.
Leave to rise for another 20 minutes and then bake in the oven at 180 degrees until the snails are golden brown.

Notes

Marjal’s lemon cake

27. January 20258. February 2023 by Dio Pigadia

Marjal’s lemon cake

Servings

servings

Prep time

minutes

Cooking time

minutes

Calories

300

kcal

Total time

minutes

When life gives you lemons… you make lemon cake! It’s impossible to resist and not to eat it in one sitting.

Ingredients

330g butter
330g sugar
330g flour
4 lemons
6 eggs
1 tbsp baking powder
200g powdered sugar
pinch of salt
Supplies
Mixer
Baking tray
Grater

Directions

Heat the oven to 190°C.
Grate the skin of all lemons and squeeze 3 of the lemons.
Separate the egg whites from the egg yolks.
Beat the egg whites together with the salt until you have a foamy consistency.
Beat the butter until it is frothy. Then add the sugar and mix again until the consistency is even. Now add egg yolks little by little while mixing. Beat the mixture until it’s creamy. Add the lemon juice and skin.
Mix the flour with the baking powder and sieve it into the butter and sugar mixture.
Now fold the beaten egg whites carefully into the dough until just mixed. Don’t over mix. You want to keep as much of the air in the batter as possible.
Grease the baking tray and pour the batter evenly into the tray.
Bake for 20 minutes until the top is golden brown.
Meanwhile squeeze the last lemon and mix it with the powdered sugar to make the syrup.
When the cake is ready but still warm, take a fork and make small holes all over the top of the cake. Pour the syrup evenly over the cake to let it seep in. Let it cool down completely. For an even better taste, wait 1 day before serving it.

Naisah’s spicecake

27. January 20258. February 2023 by Dio Pigadia

Naisah’s spicecake

Servings

servings

Prep time

minutes

Cooking time

hour

Calories

250

kcal

Total time

hour

minutes

Ingredients

500g flour
10g baking powder
150g sugar
milk
2 tbsp cinnamon
3 tbsp premixed gingerbread spice (see notes to make it yourself)
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp ground cardamom
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp ginger
pinch of salt

Directions

DO NOT preheat the oven.
Mix all dry ingredients together including spices and salt.
Add milk until the batter is just a little thicker than cake batter. When you let the batter run off your spoon it will break instead of running of in one go.
Grease a baking tray and cover with flour so that the cake will not stick. Pour the batter into the baking tray and put in the oven. Turn on the oven to 150°C and bake for one hour. The cake is ready when you can put in a stick and it comes out clean.
Let the cake cool completely and serve with a thick layer of butter or just as it is.
You can experiment with this recipe by adding apple, pear or nuts and raisins.

Notes

If you don’t have gingerbread spice you can mix the following ground spices together: cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, anise seed, white pepper, coriander seed (just a little), ginger, cardamom. Don’t worry if you don’ t have every spice.
For all spices mentioned, add more or less according to how spicy and flavorful you like your cake.

Kalamata table olives

27. January 202528. December 2022 by Dio Pigadia

Kalamata table olives

Named after the city of Kalamata in the southern Peloponnese, Greece, kalamata olives are known for their great taste, almond-like shape, and dark purple skin. But what steps to follow from tree to table?

Ingredients

700 grams red or brown raw Kalamata olives
4,5 liters water (plus more for soaking the olives)
13 tablespoons non-iodized salt
60 ml red wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar

Directions

Select the olives and only use the perfect ones, use the bruised ones for something else. Remove any stems or leaves, you could use this as compost. Thoroughly rinse the olives.
With a fork or the tip of a sharp knife make a small cutting in every olive. This will speed up the curing process.
Place the olives in a food proof container, preferably glass. Add water and make sure all olives are covered.
Let the olives soak for 24 hours. Drain the olives and put them back in the container and cover with new, fresh water. Repeat this process for 8 to 10 days. For less bitter olives repeat this process for up to 20 days. During this process you can taste the olives and stop whenever you think the olives have a good taste.
When the olives are good to your taste, drain the water.
Now make a brine by dissolving 3 tablespoons of the salt in 1 quart of the water. Salty sea water also works. Want to be sure about the right amount of salt? You could do use the following trick: put a fresh egg in the water, it starts floating and just surfacing? This is when you found the right amount of salt. Pour the brine over the olives and leave for one week.
Repeat the rinsing and brining process 3 more times, which will result in four weeks of brining in salted water.
After four weeks you can taste the olives. If it is bitter, continue with the brining process for another week and taste again. Continue until the olives are no longer bitter.
Drain the olives and transfer them to clean (sterilized) glass jars.
Make a brine with 1,5 tablespoons salt and 570 ml water. Add 60 ml red wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar. Add the brine to the olives in the jars.
Close the jars and store them in them in a cool and dark place, the refrigerator is also fine. Wait at least a week or to. You can store them for up to year.

Notes

Andi’s green tomato jam

27. January 202515. December 2022 by Dio Pigadia

Andi’s green tomato jam

Servings

150ml jars

You don’t need to worry about the solanine (toxic substance) inside unripe tomatoes because the sugar in the jam reduces the amount of solanine.

Ingredients

6kg green tomatoes
3,2kg sugar
Thyme branches
Lemon and mint
2 tablespoons cinnamon
2 tablespoons cardamon
Orange peel

Directions

Sterilize the jars in boiling water
Wash and cut the tomatoes
Cook all ingredients in a big pot
Add the contents to the jar and seal

Notes

For a thicker consistency you could add lemon juice or pektine. The unripe tomatoes already contain a lot of pektine.

Andi’s green tomato chutney

27. January 202515. December 2022 by Dio Pigadia

Andi’s green tomato chutney

Servings

150ml jars

You don’t need to worry about the solanine (toxic substance) inside unripe tomatoes because the sugar in the chutney reduces the amount of solanine.

Ingredients

3,5kg green tomatoes (take the dropped ones!)
4 big onions (dropped ones work as well – they don’t need to be perfectly beautiful)
750g sugar
200g raisins
2 large apples
720ml vinegar
50g ginger
2 tablespoons cinnamon
2 tablespoons curry
120ml sweet chili sauce or chili powder
30 pcs cloves
3 teaspoon salt
3 teaspoon pepper
3 large garlic cloves

Directions

Sterilize all jar in boiled water.
Mix everything together and cook for 45 minutes.
Add to the jar and seal.