Pasta casserole with minced meat

Ingredients

Pasta 400 g

Butter 2 tbsp

Breadcrumbs 2 tbsp

Cheese 400 g

For the meat sauce:

Vegetable oil 2 tbsp

Tomato paste 3 tbsp

Ground beef 600 g

Onion 1 pc

Salt to taste

Ground black pepper to taste

Dry red wine 1/2 cup

Cinnamon 1 stick

Allspice 2 pcs

For the milk sauce:

Flour 4 tbsp

Milk 1000 ml

Eggs 4 pcs

Nutmeg 1 tsp

Salt

Ground black pepper



Cook the pasta until al dente, so it's firm but not tough, then drain. Use a colander.



Make the meat sauce: Heat the oil in a frying pan and fry the ground meat for 7-10 minutes, stirring to avoid lumps. Peel and finely chop the onion, and add it to the pan. Season with salt and pepper to taste, add the tomato paste, wine, and spices, stir, and simmer, covered, until tender, about 20 minutes, then remove from heat.



Grease a large, deep ovenproof dish or baking sheet with half the butter and sprinkle with breadcrumbs. Add half the pasta, sprinkle with cheese, then pour in the meat sauce, sprinkle with more cheese, and add the remaining pasta.



Make the milk sauce: Sauté the flour in the remaining butter. Heat the milk to 50-60 degrees Celsius (122-140 degrees Fahrenheit) and pour it into the flour, whisking thoroughly. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly, then remove from heat. Pour in the beaten eggs, stirring constantly. Add nutmeg, salt, and pepper to taste.

Pour the milk sauce over the pasta.

Place the pasta in a preheated oven at 180°C (350°F). Bake the pastitsio for 35-40 minutes until golden brown.

Enjoy!

Barley Porridge with Vegetables

Ingredients

Pearl barley 250 g

Carrot 1

Onion 1

Tomato paste 1 tbsp

Vegetable oil 2 tbsp

Salt to taste

Rinse the pearl barley thoroughly, cover with 1 liter of water, and let soak for a couple of hours. Then drain and cook in 1 liter of salted water until tender. While the barley is cooking, prepare the vegetables.

Wash, peel, and coarsely grate the carrots. Peel and cut the onion into half rings. Heat oil in a frying pan over medium heat and fry the carrots first. Then add the onion and fry, stirring, for 4-5 minutes, until half-cooked.

 When the onions and carrots are soft and lightly browned, add the tomato paste, stir, season with salt, and cover. Simmer for another 5-7 minutes over low heat, stirring occasionally.

When the barley is done, add the fried vegetables, stir, and serve. Sprinkle with chopped herbs, if desired.

Enjoy!

Classic Greek Moussaka

Ingredients

2 eggplants

800 g minced meat

1 onion

160 g dry white wine

50 g cheese

3 tomatoes

vegetable oil to taste

pepper to taste

For the sauce:

40 g butter

30 g flour

500 ml milk

2 eggs

200 g cheese

Salt to taste

1 pinch nutmeg

Prepare the sauce. Melt the butter in a frying pan over low heat. Add the flour, stir with a spatula, and fry the flour and butter for 30 seconds. Remove the pan from the heat.

Heat the milk in a saucepan. Return the pan to low heat and gradually pour in the milk, stirring the sauce with a spatula. Reserve a small amount of milk (~100 ml) to adjust the sauce's thickness. Stirring constantly with a spatula, bring the sauce to a boil (on low heat) and let it simmer for ~3-5 minutes.

Add the grated cheese to the sauce. Stir and cook until the cheese melts. Season the sauce with salt, to taste, and grate the nutmeg. Remove from heat and let cool slightly for ~5 minutes.

Crack the eggs into a separate bowl and lightly whisk. Add the eggs to the sauce in two batches, whisking each time. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap so that the plastic wrap lies directly on the surface of the sauce to prevent a skin from forming on the surface.

Prepare the moussaka ingredients. Peel the onion and cut into quarters. Wash the tomatoes, make a cross-shaped cut in each one, and immerse them in boiling water for ~1 minute. Then transfer the tomatoes to ice water and peel them. Cut the tomatoes into small cubes.

Wash the eggplants, remove the stems, and slice thinly. Place the eggplants in a colander, lightly salting the slices, and let them sit for about 30 minutes. Then rinse and drain.

Fry the eggplants in a frying pan with vegetable oil, then dry the slices on paper towels to remove excess oil.

Place the chopped onion in a frying pan with heated vegetable oil, lightly salt, and fry over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until soft. Remove the onion from the pan. Increase the heat and add a little more oil if necessary.

Add half to a third of the ground meat to the pan and fry, stirring constantly with a wooden spatula. Transfer the fried ground meat to a bowl.

Fry the remaining ground meat. Return the fried minced meat to the pan (reduce heat to low). Pour in the wine and stir.

Add the onion, tomatoes, salt, and freshly ground pepper and stir. Simmer over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the liquid has completely evaporated.

Place a layer of eggplant in a baking dish. Spread the minced meat on top in an even layer. Then add the remaining eggplant slices.

Pour the sauce over the moussaka and sprinkle with grated cheese.

Bake for about 40 minutes, until golden brown, in a preheated oven at 180°C (350°F). Remove the finished moussaka from the oven and let it rest for 15-20 minutes before serving.

Enjoy!

Rice with Ginger and Onion

Ingredients

200 g parboiled rice

1 onion

1 carrot

2 cloves garlic

1 tbsp ginger

450 ml water

Salt

Vegetable oil

Finely chop the onion and coarsely grate the carrot. Heat 2 tbsp vegetable oil in a saucepan and fry, stirring, the onion and carrot until soft, about 15 minutes.

Finely chop the ginger and garlic. Add them to the saucepan and fry, stirring, for about 2 minutes.

Pour the washed rice into the saucepan and stir well until the rice grains are coated with the oil.

Pour in the water, add salt, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer until the rice is tender, about 17-20 minutes. Add a little more water if needed. Serve.

Enjoy!

Stuffed Potatoes with Tomato Sauce

Ingredients

Potatoes 1000 g

Minced Meat 300 g

Onions 2

Carrots 100 g

Tomato Paste 1 tbsp

Garlic

Vegetable Oil

Salt to Taste

Pepper to Taste

Herbs

Select potatoes of the same size. Cut out the cores (you can do this using a knife and teaspoon). Trim the bottoms of the potatoes slightly so they will sit securely in the frying pan (or saucepan). Prepare the potatoes by cutting out the cores.

Add salt, pepper, garlic, and onion (pre-minced or very finely chopped) to the minced meat and stuff the potatoes.

Pack them tightly in the frying pan. Fill halfway with salted water and cook until half-done.

 Meanwhile, prepare the gravy. Sauté the onions and carrots in vegetable oil, adding tomato paste, a little water, and salt at the end.

Add the gravy to the half-cooked stuffed potatoes and simmer until tender.

Serve the stuffed potatoes with the gravy and chopped herbs.

Enjoy!

Cauliflower Couscous

Ingredients

1 head cauliflower

1/4 cup almonds

6 cloves garlic

4 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons lemon juice

0.5 lemon zest

2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

2 tablespoons mayonnaise

1 cup couscous

1.5 cups vegetable broth

Heat 3 tablespoons oil over medium heat and fry 5 chopped garlic cloves until lightly browned. Remove from heat. Add the chopped cauliflower to the same pan and fry until browned on all sides. Season with salt to taste. It may be better to fry the cauliflower in batches to ensure even cooking.

 While the cabbage is frying, add a tablespoon of olive oil to the pan and add the couscous.

Fry for a minute, then pour in the broth and bring to a boil. Remove from heat, cover, and let sit for 7 minutes. Stir with a fork and set aside.

In a small bowl, combine the pressed garlic (1 clove), mustard, lemon juice and zest, and mayonnaise. Mix until smooth. To serve, add the couscous, top with the fried cabbage, sprinkle with toasted nuts, and drizzle with the dressing.

Enjoy!

Ham and Mushroom Rolls

Ingredients

15 slices of ham

400 g of mushrooms

1 onion

200 ml of 10% cream

70 ml of dry white wine

50 ml of milk

3 tsp of flour

Salt to taste

Ground black pepper

Vegetable oil

Dill

Wash the mushrooms, dry them, and finely chop them. Peel and finely chop the onion. Wash the dill, dry it, and finely chop it or separate it into small sprigs.

Fry the onion and mushrooms for 10-15 minutes in vegetable oil, season with salt and pepper.

Place 1-1.5 tablespoons of mushrooms fried with onions on the edge of a slice of ham and roll them up. Make all the rolls in this manner. 

In a bowl, combine the milk, cream, wine, and flour. Stir until combined. Grease a baking dish with vegetable oil, place the rolls in the dish, pour the creamy sauce over them, and bake in a preheated oven at 180°C for 20-25 minutes.

Serve the rolls hot, garnished with dill (optional).

Enjoy!