location: Aegean Islands

1,200gr tender zucchini
5 eggs, beaten
300gr feta cheese, crushed
300gr fresh anthotyro cheese of Chios
160gr breadcrumbs
2 tablespoons finely chopped dill
2 tablespoons finely chopped spearmint
5-6 spring onions with their leaves, finely chopped
1 cup olive oil
Salt
Freshly ground pepper

Spray a small baking pan with oil and cover with half the breadcrumbs. After, wash the zucchini, remove the stem, cut them into small cubes and place them in a medium-sized bowl. Add the eggs, the cheeses, the rest of the breadcrumbs, dill, spearmint and the spring onions. Season the mixture with salt and pepper. Spread the mixture out onto the baking pan and spray with olive oil.

Bake in a preheated oven at 170 C for 40-45 minutes until it turns light golden brown.

1 kilo watermelon
½ kg sugar
1 sachet mastic powder

Cut the watermelon into large cubes and place in a large pot with all the sugar. Let sit for at least 12 hours or overnight. Next, strain the fruit and puree in a blender. Boil the strained syrup for about 45 minutes and add the fruit. Stir until it becomes thick.

Let cool completely and store in sterilised jars.

For the phyllo dough:
1/2 kg flour for all purposes
A pinch of salt
150gr oil
150gr raki
Water (as much as it takes for a flexible dough)
For the filling:
1 kg pumpkins
2 large onions
Half a bunch mint
Half a bunch parsley
300gr. feta cheese
2 eggs
1 cup sweet trachana (cracked wheat)

Wash the zucchini and cut the ends. Coarsely grate the zucchini and sprinkle with coarse salt. Leave in a sieve to drain the liquid for 2-3 hours. Clean the onions, grate and place in frying pan with a little water and oil to soften. Cool. Finely chop the mint and parsley and mix with the grated zucchini, onions, feta and the eggs. Roll out the dough into thin phyllo sheets. Oil the baking pan and place one lightly oiled sheet on the bottom and then another sheet. Sprinkle a cup of sweet trahana (cracked wheat) in the zucchini mixture to absorb the extra liquids and cover with two more layers.

Oil the pie, cut in squares, sprinkle with sesame seeds. Bake in a preheated oven at 220 C for about 45 minutes until the top has browned and the lower phyllo layer has dried.

5 cups flour
5 eggs
1 cup oil
2 cups sugar
1 cup raisins
½ cup souma from Rhodes
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1½ teaspoon clove
3 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup orange zest
3 cups grated zucchini

Soak the raisins for 30 to 60 minutes. Separately crush the walnuts and mix with the zest, the cinnamon and the clove. Beat together the oil, sugar and eggs. Add the grated zucchini, raisins, walnuts, flour, mixed with the baking powder, soda and salt. Stir all the ingredients well. Pour the mixture into a buttered baking pan.

Place in the oven and bake at 180 C for 60-70 minutes. Top with sugar.

For the filling:
1kg myzithra cheese
1kg anthotyro cheese
5 eggs
½ kg sugar
Cinnamon
Dill
For the dough:
1 kg flour
1 small wine glass olive oil
1 small wine glass sugar
Salt
Butter

Mix all the ingredients for the dough. Cover, set aside and let rise. Separate the dough into four equal parts and roll out the phyllo layers. Place a phyllo layer in a baking pan, brush with melted butter and add the second layer, making sure the edges cover the sides of the baking pan. Add the filling, spread evenly over the dough and cover with the remaining two layers. Join the edges from inside and add a pinch of cinnamon.

Bake in a pre-heated oven at 170- 180 C for about 40 minutes.

200gr flour
350gr water
50gr olive oil
Half a lemon
20gr honey
10gr peeled sesame
5gr cinnamon

In a bowl, pour water, olive oil and the juice of half a lemon. Add the sifted flour and stir until the mixture thickens.

Put a frying pan on high heat and let olive oil simmer. Spoon the dough into the hot oil. Fry on both sides for 2-3 minutes. Remove the “tiganites” and drain on kitchen paper. Garnish with honey and cinnamon.

For the dough:
1kg flour
Salt
1 cup water
Oil
For the filling:
2 cups trachana (cracked wheat)
Some rice
½ kg milk
3 eggs
Pepper
1 cup Myzithra cheese of Skyros

Knead the dough in balls and open a thin sheet the size of the pan with a traditional wooden reed. Cut the sheet into strips. Boil the trachana (cracked wheat or couscous) very well; add the milk and rice and boil for 8 minutes. Remove from fire, beat the eggs, add the mizithra cheese, salt and pepper, then stir. Spread three buttered sheets of dough in a baking pan and pour the mixture over the layers. Cover with two sheets of dough.

Bake in the oven for an hour. Sprinkle with cinnamon and honey.

1 kg wheat
100 gr chickpeas
100 gr beans
50 gr lentils
150 gr raisins
1 big pomegranate
250 gr sesame
500 gr tahini
200 gr walnuts
Cinnamon powder
A little flower-water
Sugar (depending on how sweet we want them)

Boil the wheat and pulses in a large pot. When it’s almost boiled, add the raisins. Check occasionally that the beans and wheat are boiling but not mashed. Remove from fire. Roast the sesame seeds. Dilute the tahini with a portion of the wheat and bean mixture and add half of the sesame seeds. Place the diluted tahini with the sesame seeds in a blender and mix. Blend with the bean and wheat mixture after removing the excess cooking juices.

Put the mixture again on the fire in a clean pot to gently boil. Remove and flavor with flower-water. Serve in balls and add sugar according to taste sprinkling with grated walnuts, roasted sesame seeds, cinnamon and pomegranates.

200 grams flour
1 pinch salt
150 grams frozen butter
50 grams almond powder
75 grams powdered sugar
Lemon slices
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 egg
500 grams plums of Skopelos

After sifting the flour thoroughly, mix with salt and cold butter cubes. Work the mixture first with hands to spread the butter evenly until the dough resembles thick crumbs. Add the ground almonds, chopped in blender, together with the traces, the zest and cinnamon. Add the egg and mix well. Cover the bowl with a cloth and let sit in the refrigerator for an hour. Wash the plums thoroughly and remove the seeds. Cut the fruit into thin slices or chunks. Remove the dough from the refrigerator. Lightly butter a round cake moud (without the hole in the middle) or a pyrex. Pour the dough into the mould, top with plum slices and press down gently with fingers.

Bake in a preheated oven to 190 C for 30 minutes until golden brown and the plums are soft. Let cool and remove from mould.

2 eggs
1 teaspoon sugar
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup fresh milk
The juice of ½ orange
1 sachet baking powder
2 cups flour
Olive oil for frying
Cinnamon
Honey

In a large bowl, beat together the eggs, sugar and salt until fluffy. Add remaining ingredients and mix well to make a slightly thick batter.

In a frypan, heat the oil on medium heat. Take spoonfuls of the dough which has been dipped in oil so as not to stick and fry until golden-brown. Place on a platter lined with paper towels to drain excess oil. Serve on a plate topped with cinnamon and plenty of honey. Alternatively serve with goat’s cheese while they are hot and fluffy.

2 tomatoes
3 Eggs
1 cup Onions
1/2 cup Cheese ((ksinomizithra or touloumotyri)

Finely chop the tomatoes. In a frying pan, saut? onions and add the chopped tomatoes. In a separate bowl beat the eggs with the “ksinomyzithra” cheese or the “touloumotyri” cheese and pour over the tomatoes. Stir well, let cool for 5 minutes and serve.

Stir well, let cool for 5 minutes and serve.

500gr flour for all purposes (Alternatively 350gr flour for all purposes and 150gr yellow flour)
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon baking powder
1 tablespoon vinegar
3-4 tablespoons olive oil
250gr water

For the filling:
600-700gr feta cheese and goat’s cheese (crushed)

Stir well in a large bowl all the solid ingredients and add the vinegar, oil and gradually the water. Knead until the dough does not stick to the bowl. Separate the dough into eight small balls. Place in a floured pan, cover with a towel and let rest for about half an hour. Roll out each ball into a thin layer of dough. Put the filling on one edge, brush the phyllo dough with a little oil, fold both sides a little so that the filling does not spill and make a roll. Holding the two ends gives the pie the shape of a snail.

Heat the oil in a pot or frying pan (not too large) and when it’s hot place the pie gently in the pan so the crust doesn’t open. Turn, using two forks so that it doesn’t break and fry until golden-brown. Drain the oil by placing on kitchen paper and serve hot.

Store-bought phyllo dough
300gr feta cheese
10gr freshly ground pepper
60gr spearmint
2 fresh eggs
30gr extra virgin olive oil

Crush the feta cheese, chop the spearmint and put all the ingredients together into a bowl and mix very well. Brush a baking pan with olive oil and roll out half the phyllo sheets. Spread the mixture and cover with the remaining phyllo layers, brushing with olive oil.

Bake in a preheated oven at 170 C for 30 minutes.

1 packet village style phyllo dough
? cup risotto rice
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cups water
1 cup almonds, chopped
1 cup raisins
½ teaspoon clover
Olive oil
For the syrup:
½ cup sugar
4 cups honey
½ lemon (the juice and skin)
½ cup water
1 cinnamon stick

Soak the rice in lukewarm water for 10 minutes and drain. Heat two tablespoons of olive oil in a small saucepan and saut? the rice until translucent. Add the water, lower the heat and let it simmer for 15 minutes until the liquid is absorbed. Add the raisins until they swell. Remove from heat, cool and add the cloves and almonds. Brush a baking pan with oil and spread half the phyllo dough layers (three sheets brushed with oil), spread the filling evenly and cover with the remaining three layers of dough.

Carve the pie and bake in a preheated oven for about 45 minutes at 180 C. While the pie is baking, boil the ingredients for the syrup for approximately 8 minutes from the time the water boils. Add lemon zest and cinnamon. When the pie is ready, cover generously in syrup.

1kg zucchini
½ kg feta cheese
4 eggs
1 bunch spring onions
1 onion
Breadcrumbs
Salt
Pepper
Nutmeg (grated)
Olive oil
A little milk

Grate the zucchini and squeeze to strain. In a pot saut? the zucchini with the onions. When the liquid evaporates, add the feta and the other ingredients and stir. When the mixture thickens remove from heat. Coat the bottom of a baking pan with oil and sprinkle with some bread crumbs. Pour in the mixture and cover with the remaining bread crumbs.

Bake at 200 C for 60 minutes.

25 medium sized tomatoes
1kg sugar
½ kg almonds
½ teaspoon citric acid
2 vanilla sticks
Water to cover the tomatoes.
A pinch of lime

Peel the tomatoes. Make two holes in the bottom and with a tooth pick remove the seeds. Wash once and place in lime water for 10 minutes. Next, wash 5-6 times to clean and let drain. Put almonds inside each tomato. Place the tomatoes in a pot in rows and cover with sugar. Let sit for 12 hours. Then add as much water as needed to cover the tomatoes. Pour the tomatoes into a large bowl and boil until the mixture thickens. Add the citric acid and the vanilla.

Let cool and store in sterilised jars.

For the dough:
1 kg all purpose flour
1 cup oil
1 tablespoon salt
1 and 1/2 cups water
For the filling:
1 bunch spring onions finely chopped
1 leek finely chopped -optional
½ bunch of dill
1kg spinach finely chopped (grated)
½ cup oil
Salt
Pepper
2 tablespoons rice
Feta cheese

Dough: Knead all the ingredients for the dough together and set aside for one hour to rise. Roll out two thin sheets of phyllo dough. Filling: In a small pan, saut? the onions and add salt, pepper and mint. Mix in the rest of the ingredients. In a baking pan place a layer of the dough in the bottom, spread the filling evenly, cover with the remaining phyllo sheet and brush the top with the mixture of egg and milk.

Place in the oven and bake at 180 C for 30 minutes.

For the almond paste:

500gr unsalted almonds without the peel
250gr sugar
2-3 drops bitter almond flavor (in large supermarkets on confectionery shelves)
Minimum water or flower-water (in large supermarkets on confectionery shelves), if needed
Corn flour for sprinkling

For the butter cream:

250-300gr egg whites (from 10 eggs)
100gr powdered sugar
150gr fresh butter
50gr margarine
1 teaspoon vanilla extract (in large supermarkets on pastry racks)

For the decoration:

1 pack almonds
Fine sugar

For the almond paste: Beat the almonds with sugar and bitter almond to the blender until they become a homogeneous mass. If necessary, add little water or waterless to facilitate shuffling. Open the paste onto a 40 x 20 cm layer -1 cm thick, sprinkling with a high volume or corn flour.
For the butter cream: Beat in the mixer at low speed with half the sugar until they become tight meringue and keep them aside. Beat butter in the mixer with margarine with the rest of the sugar and vanilla until they whiten and soften. Add the meringue and mix lightly with a spatula. Place the cream in a pastry bag. Cut with a sharp pointed drenched knife (or with the pizza knife) the open sheet in strips 5 cm wide. Spread on each butter cream and close by forming a roll.

Cut into 4-5 cm long rolls and sprinkle with almond syrup and powdered sugar. You can replace the almond paste with ready-made marzipan that you can find in confectionery stores.