Cyprus recipes with Loulla Astin

As the weather heats up, try these lighter options

Tourlou- Tourlou/ Briam

Tourlou or Briam is a classic Greek dish, a tray that smells like summer: Mediterranean vegetables, like aubergines, courgettes, okra, peppers, potatoes, any vegetables you like and tomatoes. Türlü (a Turkish word meaning mixed) is often compared to a Greek Ratatouille.
I really love this dish, especially when I fry the vegetables first, then bake them. They caramelise beautifully, all the flavours come together, and okra adds great flavour, it turns out extra delicious.
You also find versions across the Balkans: In Albania (turli perimesh), Greece (Tourlou), and in North Macedonia (turi tava).

150ml olive oil
Sea salt & pepper
2 medium aubergines
2 red peppers & 2 green peppers
2 medium courgettes
2 large potatoes, peeled
400g baby frozen okra (don’t defrost)
2 large onions, thickly sliced
2-3 garlic cloves, chopped
1/2 tsp sugar or honey
1 tbsp dried oregano
Small bunch of parsley, chopped

Cut all vegetables into big chunks. Lightly salt the aubergines and courgettes, leave for 10-15 minutes.
Heat half the olive oil and fry the aubergines until golden. Remove to kitchen paper. Repeat with the courgettes, adding more oil, then fry peppers and potatoes, set everything aside.
Preheat oven to 180C.
In the same pan, sauté onions and garlic until soft. Add frozen okra and cook until it releases some of its liquid. Stir the tomato paste, cook for a minute then add the chopped tomatoes and sugar.
Add all the fried vegetables back in, season adding the oregano and parsley and transfer to an oven dish. Baked for 35 minutes, don’t stir while cooking.
Serve warm or at room temperature with Greek feta and fresh bread.
Enjoy!

Strapatsada /kagianas

This another rustic Greek dish of scrambled eggs cooked with fresh tomatoes, olive oil and herbs. Adding green sliced olives introduces a bright, briny pop of flavour that perfectly balances the sweetness of the tomatoes and the richness of the eggs. Nice for breakfast or light lunch.

4 large, ripe tomatoes finely chopped
5 large eggs (lightly beaten
2 tbsp water
2 tbsp virgin olive
1 cup green pitted olives, sliced
1 tbsp capers, drained
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tsp dried oregano
100g feta cheese, crumbled
À pinch of salt and freshly ground black pepper (to taste)
2 tbsp chopped parsley
Lemon wedges

Heat the olive oil in a large non-stick frying pan, over medium heat.
Add the minced garlic and sauté for about 30 seconds, add the chopped tomatoes and dried oregano.
Let the tomatoes cook for 5 minutes until they soften and some of the liquid has evaporates.
Add the sliced olives and the drained capers, lower the heat to medium-low, whisk the eggs with 2 tbsp of water and stir the eggs, folding them together until they are just set but still soft and moist.
Remove from heat, sprinkle the crumbled feta cheese and gently stir, serve immediately, topped with chopped parsley and a drizzling of olive oil.
Serve with lemon wedges and sourdough bread, to scoop up the sauce.

Halloumi & Olive Muffins

I love these savoury muffins, I been making them for a good few years now, my grandkids adore them, come to think of it so do I!
They are nice for a snack, anytime of the day also good for picnics and for kids’ lunch boxes.
You could make them with gluten free flour just add 1/2 tsp of Xanthin gum.

Makes 12
350g/12oz plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
½ tsp ground black pepper
½ tsp ground cinnamon
6 tbsp olive oil
3 medium eggs, room temperature
300ml yoghurt (not thick yogurt) or use full fat milk
50ml orange juice
3 thin spring onions, finely chopped
100g Halloumi, chopped into small cubes
100g Kefalotyri or Gruyere or cheddar, grated
100g black pitted olives, cut in cubes
1 tsp dried mint
2 tbsp fresh chopped mint
4 tbsp chopped coriander
Topping
Sesame seeds

Grease a 12-muffin tin with olive oil.
Pre-heat the oven to 180C.
Sift flour in a large bowl, add salt, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, olive oil and mix lightly.
In a smaller bowl whisk the eggs, yoghurt or milk and orange juice.
Pour egg mixture into the flour and mix lightly to combine, then fold in the spring onion, cheese, olives, mint and coriander and season with ground black pepper. Do not over mix the mixture, it is too thick add a little more milk.
Spray the muffin tin with olive oil, and using an ice-cream scoop, place large scoopfuls of the mixture in the muffin tin, filling them to the top.
Sprinkle the muffins with sesame seeds and bake in the centre of the preheated oven for about 25 minutes or until golden or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
Eat them warm or cool, store in an airtight container, they will keep up to 3-4 days if you can resist them.

Loulla’s book My Kosmos My Kitchen can be ordered from www.amazon.com or www.austinmacauley.com/book/my-kosmos-my-kitchen. For more traditional Greek and Cypriot recipes and inspiration, join Loulla’s Facebook group Loulla’s Recipe Share