meze – My Whisk and I

Stuffed Sweet Peppers

July 28, 2022June 22, 2022by Karen ClaassenLeave a Comment

250ml orzo pasta
6 sweet peppers
200ml olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 onions, finely chopped
4 zucchini, diced
50g pine nuts, toasted
50g feta cheese, crumbled
50g black olives, pitted and chopped
250ml chopped tomato

Preheat your oven to 180℃.
Cook the orzo pasta according to packet instructions and keep aside.
Cut the tops off the peppers so that you have a “lid”. Scoop out the insides with a teaspoon and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
Place the peppers in an ovenproof dish and set aside.
Heat 100ml olive oil in a frying pan, add the garlic, onion and zucchini and cook gently for 10 minutes.
Add the cooked orzo, pine nuts, feta cheese, olives and tomatoes and stir through.
Spoon the mixture into the peppers and pour over the remaining olive oil. You may place the tops which you cut off onto the peppers.
Bake in the oven for 35 minutes.
Serve warm or at room temperature.

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Stuffed Tomatoes/Tomatakia Gemista

July 12, 2022June 17, 2022by Karen ClaassenLeave a Comment

12 large tomatoes
2,5ml sugar
200ml olive oil
2 cloves of garlic, minced
2 onions, finely chopped
200g rice/orzo pasta
400ml chicken stock
50g pine nuts, toasted
half a batch of Greek Pesto (Search this blog for the recipe)
50g black olives, pitted and chopped

Preheat your oven to 180℃.
Cut a 2cm slice off the top of each tomato and scoop out the pulp – keep the pulp.
Sprinkle the inside of the tomato with salt, pepper and a pinch of sugar.
Pack the tomatoes close together into a shallow ovenproof dish.
Heat 100ml olive oil, add the onion and garlic and stir-fry until the onion is soft – about 10 minutes.
Add the tomato pulp and simmer until reduced and concentrated in flavour.
Add the rice/pasta, stock and 10ml salt and a few grindings of black pepper. Simmer for another 15 minutes.
Add the pine nuts, greek pesto, feta and olives and stir through.
Spoon the rice mixture into the tomatoes and pour over the remaining olive oil.
Bake for one hour.
Serve the stuffed tomatoes at room temperature with an extra dollop of the Greek Pesto.

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Garlic Prawns/ Gambas

July 11, 2022June 17, 2022by Karen ClaassenLeave a Comment

This is a Meze classic, easy to put together and bursting with mediterranean flavours. Best served with crusty bread to mop up all the delicious leftover juices!

500g prawns, shelled and deveined
30ml olive oil
2,5ml crushed chilli flakes
3 cloves of garlic, minced
zest and juice of 1 lemon
a handful of parsley, chopped
20g butter
5ml Worcestershire sauce
5 drops tabasco

Add the olive oil to a frying pan and set it over medium-high heat.
Add the chilli flakes and 2 cloves of garlic and fry for a minute.
Add the prawn and stir-fry until cooked.
Add the lemon zest, juice and parsley and stir through.
Season with salt and pepper.
Spoon the prawns into a serving dish.
Melt the butter in the same pan and mix in the Worcestershire sauce, tabasco and one clove of garlic.
Spoon the mixture over the prawns and serve with a crusty loaf of bread and a glass of wine.