ATHENS LIVING

Keep scrolling down this page to find new recipes- each recipe is both written and filmed to make following them as simple as possible. To see a short video of how to make each recipe, click on 'videos' in the drop down menu or click here: cooking videos

Please email me (corinne@athensliving.net) if you have a great, simple, Mediterranean style recipe that you think would be ideal for the site- I would love to get some new ideas!

SERVES 2:

 400 gr. pre boiled shrimp, (fresh if preferred)

4-5 medium size tomatoes, chopped or 1 500gr. tin of chopped tomatoes

1/2 cup white wine

3 chopped garlic cloves

1/2 cup chopped parsley

300 gr. linguine

3 cups water

lemon slices

Clean the shrimp carefully, putting the heads, shells and tails into a medium sized saucepan and placing the clean shrimp into a small bowl. Cover the cleaned shrimp with a few slices of lemon and put in the fridge.

Add 3 cups of water to the shrimp shells in the saucepan, add a pinch of rock salt, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer over a low heat for an hour and a half to two hours until you have a stock that has reduced by at least half- you should have about one and a half cups of stock. Strain out the shrimp heads and shells and reserve stock.

Chop up fresh tomatoes or place tinned tomatoes in a bowl and add a teaspoon of sugar and a pinch of salt. Thinly slice and chop the garlic cloves. 

In a large wide frying pan or saucepan, cook the garlic over a medium heat until softened. Add the tomatoes, stir for two minutes. When everything is bubbling nicely, add the white wine.

Cook for a few minutes then add the shrimp stock.

You can now boil up some water to cook the pasta. While waiting for the water to boil,  finely chop the parsley.

When the pasta is ready (leave it slightly al dente as it will cook for a few more minutes in the sauce) strain and add to your sauce which should look rich and reduced (see video). Stir pasta around, keeping the pan over a low heat. Add peeled shrimp and stir until all sauce has soaked into the pasta and the shrimp are warm. Take off the heat and sprinkle in the parsley, stirring again. Parsley is a very important ingredient in this dish-don't skimp on it! ©

BROAD BEANS WITH LEMON AND DILL

 1/2 kilo broad beans  (from 1.5 to 2 kilos of bean pods)

1/2 litre vegetable stock

juice of one lemon

one medium onion, finely chopped

1/2 cup chopped dill

50 ml. olive oil

In a medium sized saucepan, lightly soften the onion in the olive oil over low heat for a few minutes until transparent.  Raise heat, add beans and saute the beans and onions for about two minutes, and add the lemon juice.

Stir for about two minutes, then add the vegetable stock and half the chopeed dill.

Bring to boil, lower heat and simmer partly covered for about 40 minutes, until the juices are reduced and thickened.

Turn off the heat, add the remaining dill and mix. Allow to cool to room temperature.

3 Kilos spinach, steamed and drained (in Greece, add 1 kilo sweet horta to 2 kilos spinach)

(if you like sweeter tasting pies, use 2 kilos spinach plus 2 romaine or Kos lettuces)

2 large leeks, chopped

200 gr. feta

grated parmesan (to taste)

bunch of chopped dill

4 eggs

5 spring onion

1 cup chopped fresh mint

salt and pepper

For pastry:

250 gr. all purpose flour

generous pinch salt

3-4 tablespoons olive oil

water 

Place cooked and drained spinach in a large mixing bowl. Chop leeks and sweat over a low flame until transparent and soft and most of their water has evaporated.

Add strained leek to the spinach and add mint. Pour generous amount of olive oil into spinach mix and stir. Add chopped spring onions and dill, salt and pepper to taste. Add grated parmesan and crumbled feta, stir.

Add four eggs to mixture and stir thoroughly.

For pastry:

Place flour in mixing bowl. Take a knife, and start to stir in olive oil with a chopping stirring motion until mixture starts to form breadcrumbs. Add enough water to make a dough which is elastic and firm to the touch (similar to a plasticine).

Roll out pastry, using short rolling pin to open, then roll thin with a long thin rolling pin. Pastry should be about 1 mm. thick when finished.

Fold pastry in half, and add to a buttered and floured tin, leaving some overlapping all sides of tin (see video). Add spinach filling and wrap pastry top over pie, and fold in sides.

Bake in centre of oven at 180C. for an hour, taking pie out of oven after half an hour, and turning it over so that both sides bake evenly (as demonstrated in video).

Allow pie to cool for half an hour before eating and serve with a Greek salad.