Eat Greek for a Week: Fabulous food that will improve your health in seven days - Tonia Buxton (2015)

THE RECIPES

PUDDINGS, BAKES & CAKES

Peach with basil and orange blossom yogurt

Charlotta

Rizogalo

Semolina dessert

Pear and apple filo tart

Hot fig and date pudding

Koulourakia

Apple, pecan and cinnamon cake

Healthy fruit cake

Cinnamon, fig and banana muffins

My greengrocer’s cake (gluten-free)

Fig and walnut bread

Banana, date and walnut loaf cake

Yogurt, almond and apricot cake

Lemon, almond and poppy seed cake

Filo pastry is a wonderful vehicle for many flavours, sweet or savoury. I like the unusual mix of peach and basil but you can also put in fruits and spices that you especially like. Strawberries and mint work well or chopped bananas and cinnamon.

SERVES 6 Ready in: 40 minutes

6 sheets filo pastry, thawed if frozen

3 tbsp olive oil

3 firm but ripe peaches, skinned, halved and stoned

6 large basil leaves

6 tsp Comandaria (optional)

TO SERVE:

100ml natural Greek yogurt

1 tbsp orange blossom water

A sprinkling of ground cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 180˚C/fan 160˚C/gas 4.

Cut the filo pastry into six 12cm x 12cm squares and brush each with a little olive oil.

Place a basil leaf in the centre of each square, followed by half a peach, cut side up. Pour the Comandaria into each stone cavity.

Bring the four corners together at the top and twist to create a parcel. Place on a baking sheet.

Bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.

Serve immediately with a spoonful of yogurt and a sprinkling of cinnamon.

Everyone loves custard, and in the hot Mediterranean heat they eat it chilled and served with sweets on top. Don’t worry if you do not have any, it is just as lovely sprinkled with cinnamon and served with some stewed fruit, or with pear and filo tart.

The stodgy rice pudding you were served at school is a million miles away from this aromatic light pudding that is bursting with Mediterranean flavours. As it has so little sugar I sometimes have it for breakfast with some blueberries and raspberries on top.

SERVES 6-8 Ready in: 30 minutes, plus chilling

200g corn flour or rice flour

1.2 litres milk (at room temperature)

6 tbsp rose water or 1 vanilla pod, halved and seeds taken out

6 eggs, beaten

Zest 1 lemon

200g caster sugar

Spoon sweets, to decorate (candied walnuts, watermelon peel, bergamot or lemon)

Blend the corn flour with a little milk to make a smooth paste. Heat the remaining milk in a saucepan, bringing to a steady simmer. Now, using a wooden spoon, blend in the corn flour paste, sugar, rose water or vanilla and lemon zest, stirring constantly.

Once the custard is smooth reduce the heat. Pour a little of the hot custard onto the beaten eggs, whisking constantly until smooth, not scrambled. Whisk back into the hot custard and continue to heat, stirring until the custard thickens enough to coat the back of the wooden spoon.

Pour the custard into a shallow glass flan dish and leave to cool, then chill until set.

Just before serving, decoratively arrange your favourite assorted sliced spoon sweets over the top.

SERVES 6 Ready in: 30 minutes

180g brown pudding rice

50g caster sugar

1 litre semi-skimmed milk

2 heaped tbsp cornflour

4 tbsp orange blossom water or rosewater

Orange peel/rose petals to garnish

Ground cinnamon

Place the rice in a large saucepan and pour on just enough cold water to cover the rice by about 2.5cm. Cover and cook the rice gently until most of the water is absorbed. Now stir in the milk, gradually bring to the boil, then reduce the heat to simmer, covered, for about 20 minutes.

Now for the flavourings. Add more or less to suit your taste buds. Stir the sugar, rice, orange blossom or rose water into the rice. Blend the cornflour with enough milk or water to make a thin paste then stir into the rizogalo.

Bring to the steady simmer stirring, until the mixture thickens.

Divide between individual bowls or one large serving dish. Leave to cool then refrigerate for around 2 hours to firm up.

Just before serving sprinkle with cinnamon and decorate with shavings of orange peel or rose petals.

This is such a strange dessert. It has a magical quality and is so moreish you just can’t stop coming back for another slice. It is flavoured with mastic which is a resinous gum exuded by the bark of the mastic tree, which grows on the Greek island of Chios in the Aegean sea. It has amazing anti-bacterial qualities and it is said that if you chew the gum regularly it can help shrink stomach ulcers. It is also a great aid to any digestive disorders. It has a wonderful, slightly bitter, piney flavour.

SERVES 6 Ready in: 30 minutes

175g coarse cut semolina

½ tsp mastic

100g flaked almonds

3 tbsp olive oil

1 litre water

175g caster sugar

Mix 2 tbsp semolina with the mastic, crushing, ideally in a pestle and mortar. The semolina prevents the mastic getting sticky. Set aside.

Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan then fry the almonds until golden brown. Set aside 2 tbsp for decoration.

Pour the remaining semolina into the pan and mix well. Stir in the water and sugar. Bring to the boil then simmer gently, stirring constantly until the mixture starts to thicken slightly. Now add the crushed mastic and continue to stir over a moderate heat until the consistency of thick custard.

Pour into a shallow serving dish, sprinkle on the remaining browned almonds and leave to cool.

This always looks so lovely coming straight from the oven to the table, apples, pears, nuts and spices; tastes just as good cold too. You can use whatever filling you like. In the summer, when I have a plum harvest from the tree in the garden I put in plums, or if you have a summer fruit glut of strawberries or blackberries you can use them too.

SERVES 8 Ready in: 30 minutes

6 sheets filo pastry

4 tbsp olive oil

100g flaked almonds

50g chopped hazelnuts

50g unrefined brown sugar

3 tsp ground cinnamon

½ tsp ground mastic (optional)

3 dessert apples, peel on, cored and thinly sliced

3 dessert pears, peel on, cored and thinly sliced

Zest and juice of 1 lemon

Preheat the oven to 190˚C/fan 170˚C/gas 5. Lightly oil a large baking sheet.

Place 2 sheets of filo on the tray, oiling between each sheet, overlapping them slightly. Scatter on a third of the nut mixture, then repeat with another 2 sheets of filo and then another third of the nuts, finishing with the top 2 layers of filo pastry.

In a bowl, mix the remaining nuts with the sliced fruit, sugar and spice then evenly scatter over the top layer of pastry, folding in the pastry edges to form a rustic rim.

Bake for 20 minutes or until the pastry is crisp and golden and the fruit softened. Serve cut into rectangles. Best enjoyed freshly baked and warm.

SERVES 4 Ready in: 30 minutes

1 tbsp olive oil

500g fresh figs, washed

300g medul dates (or dried)

1 tsp ground cinnamon, extra for sprinkling

1 tsp ground allspice

Zest and juice of 1 lemon

4 tbsp runny honey

Preheat the oven to 200˚C/fan 180˚C/gas 6. Oil an ovenproof dish.

Slice the figs in half and prick with a fork on the skin side.

Cut the dates in half and remove the stones. Arrange in the dish alternating with the figs.

Sprinkle over the spices and lemon juice. Drizzle with the honey.

Bake for 20 minutes or until the honey starts to bubble.

Serve warm with Greek yogurt and a sprinkling of cinnamon.

SERVES 4 Ready in: 4 hours

1 kg village flour

200ml olive oil

½ packet dried yeast

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp ground mastic

1 tsp ground mehelpi seeds

100g sesame seeds

2 tsp aniseed seeds

1 tbsp sugar

A pinch of sea salt

Mix all the flour, olive oil, dried yeast, cinnamon, mastic and mehelpi seeds together in a large bowl, adding just enough warm water to bind together to form a smooth dough. Cover and leave in a warm place to prove for 1 hour.

Place the sesame seeds in a sieve and pour on boiling water to rinse. Drain and mix with the aniseed and sugar. Spread into a large shallow dish.

Pinch off a walnut size piece of dough, roll it in to a thin rope or tube about the length of a dinner knife. If it gets sticky; dust with a little more flour. Fold in half then twist two times or make a coiled circle or a snake shape. Roll or dip into the sesame seeds then transfer onto a floured baking sheet.

Bake in a preheated oven 180˚C/fan 160˚C/gas 4 for 20 minutes. Remove and cool the biscuits. Reduce the oven temperature to 120˚C/fan 100˚C/gas ½ and return the biscuits to the oven for a further 2 hours. Cool and store in an airtight container.

SERVES 6 Ready in: 1 hour

120ml olive oil

100g light brown Muscovado sugar, plus 1tbsp

150g self-raising flour

2 tsp ground cinnamon

3 free-range medium eggs, beaten

2 tbsp milk

2 crisp dessert apples eg Cox, quartered and sliced

100g pecan nuts, roughly chopped

75g sultanas

Preheat the oven to 180˚C/fan 160˚C/gas 4. Oil and line an 18cm round, loose-bottomed or spring-form cake tin.

Place the olive oil, sugar, (reserving 1 tbsp) and eggs into a large bowl and mix together well.

Sift in the flour and cinnamon and fold in to form a smooth batter. Add a splash of milk to slacken, if required.

Now add all but a handful of the apples with the nuts and sultanas to the cake mix. Pour into the prepared tin and scatter the remaining apples and 1 tbsp sugar over the surface.

Bake for 1 hour until well risen and golden brown and a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean. Cool a little in the tin before inverting onto a wire rack to cool.

SERVES 8-10 SLICES Ready in: 1 hour

3 ripe bananas, mashed

2 medium free-range eggs, beaten

50g ground almonds

100g walnut pieces

150g sultanas

2 dessert apples, finely chopped

100g pitted prunes, chopped (optional)

200ml natural Greek yogurt

2 tsps ground cinnamon

1 tsp ground allspice

150g wholemeal flour

1 tbsp baking powder

200ml herbal tea (mint or camomile) to slacken the mix

Preheat the oven to 180˚C/fan 160˚C/gas 4. Oil and line a 1kg loaf tin.

In a bowl or food processor beat together the bananas, eggs and ground almonds. Stir in the walnuts, sultanas, prunes and yogurt.

Now add all the dry ingredients and mix well, adding as much tea as needed to slacken the mixture.

Pour into the prepared loaf tin and bake for 45 minutes or until firm to touch and a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean. Cool a little in the tin before inverting on a wire rack to cool.

MAKES 8-10 Ready in: 1 hour

4 ripe bananas

2 medium free-range eggs

5 tbsp olive oil

50g muscovado sugar

120ml milk

1 tsp ground cinnamon

150g wholemeal flour

1½ tbsp baking powder

50g dried figs, chopped

25g sunflower seeds

Preheat the oven to 180˚C/fan 160˚C/gas 4. Line a muffin tray with 8-10 large paper muffin cases.

In a large bowl mash 3 bananas then beat together with the eggs, oil, sugar and milk.

Now add all the dry ingredients with the figs and seeds. Mix to just combine - do not overmix at this stage.

Spoon 2 heaped tbsp into each muffin case and decorate each with a slice of banana. Bake for 20 minutes or until risen, nicely coloured and springy to the touch. Allow to cool. Serve freshly made and preferably warm.

This cake is for all my coeliac and wheat intolerant friends who come to tea. I have taken inspiration from the wonderful Sabrina Ghayour who has an amazing wheat free cake in her book Persiana which I adore; actually I adore all her recipes.

MAKES 8 SLICES Ready in: 1 hour and 10 minutes

3 eggs

100g demerara sugar

70ml rose water

200g ground almonds

150g desiccated coconut

100g raw virgin coconut oil

2 heaped tablespoons ground cinnamon

2 courgettes, finely grated

1 large carrot, finely grated

100g chopped or flaked almonds

100g sultanas (or cranberries)

ROSE YOGURT:

500ml Greek yogurt 2% fat or full fat.

50ml rose water

50g icing sugar

TO DECORATE:

Icing sugar for dusting

Dried rose petals to sprinkle on top.

Preheat your oven to 150°C/fan 130°C/gas 2. Line a circular cake tin.

Beat the eggs and sugar together, add all the other ingredients and mix really well.

Pour into the cake tin and bake for an hour.

For the rose yogurt, mix together all the ingredients and serve on the side of the cake.

MAKES 2 ROUND LOAVES Ready in: 1 hour

Fresh yeast

1 tsp caster sugar

1kg wholemeal flour

2 tbsp olive oil

1 heaped tsp ground cinnamon

1 tbsp runny honey

2 tsp salt

400g dried figs, finely chopped

100g walnut pieces

Preheat the oven to 200°C/fan 180°C/gas 6. Lightly oil and line a medium size loose-bottomed cake tin.

In a large bowl, combine 200ml warm water with the yeast and sugar. Stir to dissolve, leave to stand for 5 minutes or until the yeast is foamy. Stir in 200g wholemeal flour. Cover the bowl with a clean towel and leave in a warm place for 45 minutes or until the mixture is thick and bubbly.

Add 600g flour, 1 tbsp oil, honey, salt and 100ml warm water and work well to combine all the ingredients. Tip out onto a floured board and knead for 5-8 minutes adding more flour if required, until the dough is smooth and elastic. Fold dough over onto the figs and nuts and knead to combine well. Place in a well-oiled clean bowl, turning the dough to coat with some oil. Cover the bowl and leave in a warm place for about 2 hours or until the dough doubles in size.

Punch the dough down, let it rest for 10 minutes then tip out onto a lightly floured board. Cut the dough in half. Shape each piece into a 15cm round loaf. Place the 2 loaves onto an oiled baking tray. Cover and leave to rise for 45 minutes or until doubled in size.

With a serrated knife, make several slashes in the top of each loaf. Brush the loaves with the remaining oil. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until the bottom sounds hollow when tapped. Cool for 10 minutes on the baking sheet then transfer to wire racks to cool completely.

MAKES 8-10 SLICES Ready in: 1 hour and 10 minutes

70 ml olive oil

3 eggs, beaten

4-5 large ripe bananas, mashed

50g Greek yogurt

200g walnut pieces

300g chopped dates (the pitted square packs are great)

400g wholemeal spelt or rye flour

1 heaped tbsp baking powder

3tsp ground cinnamon

Cup of green tea cooled, to use to slacken mix

Preheat the oven to 180°C/fan 160°C/gas 4. Lightly oil a 23cm spring-clip ring cake tin or a lined 2 litre loaf tin.

Pour the oil in a bowl, then beat in the eggs and mashed banana and yogurt, and beat until smooth (this can be done in a food processor).

Stir in the walnuts and dates then fold in the flour, baking powder and cinnamon. If the mixture seems a little dry, add some green tea (or milk) to slacken to a thick batter consistency.

Pour into an oiled and lined tin and bake in the middle of the oven for 45 minutes or until well risen and browned. To test when cooked insert the point of a sharp knife or skewer; it should come out clean.

TONIA’S TIP:

Bananas are a rich source of iron and fibre, dried dates are a good source of potassium, copper and magnesium, and walnuts are an excellent source of omega-3 essential fatty acids, so this cake gets the thumbs up for healthy skin.

SERVES 10 slices Ready in: 1 hour 10 minutes

75 ml olive oil

50g caster sugar

4 free-range medium eggs, separated

120ml natural Greek yogurt

250g wholemeal flour

1 tbsp baking powder

1 tsp ground cinnamon

100g flaked almonds

100g dried organic apricots, chopped

Juice of 1 lemon

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

Preheat the oven to 170°C/fan 150°C/gas 3. Lightly oil and line a medium size loose-bottomed cake tin.

Beat the olive oil, sugar and egg yolks together in a large bowl. Add the yogurt and mix in well.

Fold in the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, almonds (reserving a handful) and apricots.

In a clean bowl, whisk the egg whites until forming soft snowy mounds. Mix together the lemon juice and bicarbonate of soda and fold into the egg whites then gently fold this into the cake mixture.

Spoon the mixture into the prepared tin. Scatter on the reserved flaked almonds. Bake for 50-55 minutes or until the cake is well risen and golden and a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean.

Cool slightly in the tin before turning out onto a cooling rack.

SERVES 10-12 slices Ready in: 1 hour

100ml olive oil

100g demerara sugar

4 free-range medium eggs, beaten

200ml natural Greek yogurt

Zest and juice of 1 lemon

500g wholemeal or spelt flour

1 tbsp baking powder

1 tsp ground allspice

2 tbsp poppy seeds

200g flaked almonds

4-5 tbsp green tea or milk, to slacken

FOR THE SYRUP:

Zest and juice of 2 lemons

100g demerara sugar

Preheat the oven to 180°C/fan 160°C/gas 4. Oil and line a 1kg loaf tin.

Beat the olive oil, sugar and eggs together in a large bowl, then whisk in the yogurt and mix together well.

Fold in the flour, baking powder, allspice, poppy seeds and almonds to form a smooth mixture. Then mix in the zest and juice of the lemon, adding a splash of milk or tea to slacken to a dropping consistency, if required.

Spoon the mixture into the prepared tin. Bake for 40 minutes or until the cake is well risen and golden and a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean.

Meanwhile mix together the lemon zest and juice with the demerara sugar and spoon over the hot cake as soon as it comes out of the oven. Leave to stand for 30 minutes to allow the syrup to seep through.