Diapolitismiko Gymnasio Evosmou. Greek traditional recipes for the UCEF Comenius Project. The material was compiled and processed by the students of theDiapolitismiko Gymnasio Evosmou who participated in the Comenius project “Understanding and Celebrating European Folklore” under the authority of the following teachers: Aria Katzika, Aspa Karasouli & Passalis Haralampos.

1. .
Greek Traditional
Recipes
Main meals and desserts
Comenius Project 2012-2014
Διαπολιτισμικό Γυμνάσιο Ευόσμου
Θεσσαλονίκη

2. Greek Traditional Recipes
“meals”

3. Moussakas
INGREDIENTS
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1 kg aubergines
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160 ml olive oil (about 1 teacup)
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1 large onion, finely sliced
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450 gr minced beef
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1 kg fresh tomatoes, drained of some of their juice and chopped
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1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
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a pinch of salt and black pepper
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25 gr grated parmesan, kefalotiri cheese
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some chopped parsley
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Bechamel Sauce
80 gr butter
80 gr flour
600 ml warm milk
salt and white pepper
30 gr grated Parmesan cheese
2 egg yolks
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Topping
60 gr. grated Parmesan or kefalotiri cheese
4 tablespoons toasted breadcrumbs
STEPS
Moussakas should be baked in the oven. Use a roasting container, either square or
oblong, approximately 25x25 cm or 39x28 cm.
Aubergines
Top and tail the aubergines, without peeling them. Rinse them, cut them in length in
75-mm thick slices and immerse them in
salted water, for 30 minutes. Take them
out, squeeze gently, rinse, then squeeze
them again. Drain them in a colander and
pat dry. Fry them in hot olive oil until
they become pale golden on both sides.
In either case, drain them on absorbent
paper on a flat plate before serving, so
that most of their oil will dribble away.

4. Meat
Sauté the sliced onion in 2 tablespoons of olive
oil, add the meat and mix together. Tomatoes,
sliced finely, the spices, salt and pepper are
then added. Cover and cook for 20 minutes,
stirring from time to time in case it sticks.
Then mix in the grated cheese and parsley.
Béchamel Sauce
Melt the butter and gradually add the flour,
the milk and seasoning, stirring continuously.
Simmer for 9-10 minutes, stirring, until it has thickened considerably. Withdraw the
pan from the heat, let it stand briefly, then add the cheese and the egg yolks. Stir to
amalgamate them. Do not let the sauce boil after this. It should by now be a thick
béchamel, to enable it to sit on top of the meat mixture and form a kind of crust.
To assemble, cover the base of the roasting dish with half of the fried aubergines,
then spread the meat mixture evenly on top of them and cover neatly with the
remaining aubergines. Then cover neatly with the béchamel sauce. Sprinkle the grated
cheese and the breadcrumbs all over the top. Bake in a pre-heated oven, 180o C, for 1
hour, until a golden crust is formed all over the top. Let it cool for 10 minutes before
serving, in order to be cut more easily. Cut it in square pieces and…enjoy your meal
with a glass of red wine!
Kali orexi !

5. Gemista
(Stuffed tomatoes and peppers)
INGREDIENTS
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5 tomatoes and 5 peppers
8 soup – spoonfuls karolina rice
3 large onions
1 coffee-cupful parsley, finely chopped
3 tea - spoonfuls spearmint
1 soup-spoonful tomato paste
½ coffee-cupful pine nuts
top quality extra virgin olive oil
salt, black pepper, a little sugar
STEPS
Peel off the tomatoes’ flesh and grind them in the blender. Cut the top of the
peppers and scoop out the seeds.
Pour a teacupful of olive oil into a deep frying pan and fry the onions. Add the rice
and continue frying for 2-3 minutes more.
Add the tomato flesh and the tomato paste. Season with salt. If necessary add a
little sugar and then the pepper.
While the mixture is still simmering, add in the pine nuts, and finally the finely
chopped parsley and spearmint. Fill the tomatoes with the stuffing up to about ⅔,
because the rice will swell, and then put them on a baking tray. If there is stuffing
left over put it between the tomatoes and if you wish you can also put a few potatoes.
Pour about ½ soup spoonful of olive oil over each tomato and sprinkle with dry bread
crumbs. Bake in a medium-heated oven for about an hour, until the rice is cooked and
the tomatoes have wrinkled.
These are eaten warm accompanied by some feta cheese and will give you an appetite
for sure!

6. Sardines
INGREDIENTS
with oregano
with tomato
1 kg scaled sardines
1 coffee-cupful olive oil
2 teaspoonfuls oregano
juice of 1 lemon, salt
1 kg scaled sardines
1 coffee-cupful olive oil
1 coffee-cupful parsley, finely chopped
400 gr. ripe tomatoes, finely chopped
If you haven’t got a grill or a barbeque, cook the sardines in the oven in two different
ways. Either with a little oregano, oil and lemon, and of course a pinch of salt or
with finely chopped tomatoes, parsley and olive oil.
Bake for 30 minutes at 180 0C, and they’re ready.
The sardines accompanied by a light retsina, dry white wine or tsipouro, take you to
the peak of traditional pleasure.

7. Kleftiko
(Greek lamb cooked in baking paper)
INGREDIENTS
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1 kg leg of lamb in 6 portions
2 carrots
4 medium potatoes
2 small onions
2 green peppers
2 medium tomatoes
300g kefalotiri cheese
6 garlic cloves
100 ml olive oil
1/2 teaspoon oregano
1/2 teaspoon thyme
Salt and pepper
•
•
12 square sheets of baking paper – approx 30cm x 30cm
String
STEPS
Dice the carrots. Cut the potatoes into thick slices and the kefalotiri cheese into
small cubes. Slice the onions, the green peppers and cut the tomatoes into 12 slices.
Put all the ingredients, apart from the tomatoes, into a mixing bowl and mix well.
Use 2 sheets of the paper and place 1/6 of the ingredients in the middle of it in the
following order: potatoes, lamb, garlic, onion, peppers, kefalotiri cheese, and the
tomato on top.
Add salt and pepper and a spoonful of the juice from the mixture.
Bring the four corners of the paper together and tie it well with string so that it
looks like a pouch (see photo above).

8. Repeat this process with the rest of the materials so that you have 6 pouches.
Place them in a covered oven dish and roast in a pre-heated oven at 160o C for 2
hours.
In the photo below you can see what each pouch looks like after roasting.
Enjoy your meal!
Geia mas!

9. Greek Traditional Recipes
“desserts”

10. Melomakarona
(Traditional Christmas Honey sweets)
INGREDIENTS
 250ml vegetable oil
 250ml olive oil
 200ml fresh orange juice
 50ml brandy
 200g sugar
 2 tea-spoon baking powder
 800g soft flour
 250g fine semolina
 2 tea-spoon cinnamon
 1 tea-spoon ground clove
 The zest of 2 oranges (
 1 tea-spoon cooking-soda, diluted in the brandy.
For the syrup
Toping
 400g sugar
 250g grounded walnuts
 400ml water
 1 tea-spoon grounded cinnamon
 400g honey
 7 clove sticks
 lemon rind
STEPS
Mix the oil, the sugar and the orange juice. Then add the rest of the ingredients.
Mold pieces of dough of about 2 spoons and shape them into flattened oval shapes.
Using a wooden skewer make small 2-3 small holes in the middle of each sweet (this

11. will help the syrup to be absorbed easier). Place them on an oiled or non-stick baking
sheet and bake them in 175O C for 35 min. Turn off the heat and let the sweets into
the oven.
For the Syrup:
Bring the sugar and the water into boil. Put into the mixture the cloves, the cinnamon
and the lemon rinds. Let the mixture boiling for 10 min. Afterwards add the honey
and boil the syrup for another 5 min. Remove it from the heat. Pour the syrup over
the sweets and let it be absorbed. Sprinkle them with walnut mixture.

12. Loukoumades
INGREDIENTS
 2 packages active dry yeas
 250ml warm water
 125ml warm milk
 60g white sugar
 1 teaspoon salt
 80g butter, softened
 3 eggs
 1kg all-purpose flour
 150g honey
 125ml water
 1L vegetable oil, or as needed
 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
STEPS
Sprinkle the yeast over the warm water in a small bowl. The water
should be no more than 40O C. Let stand for 5 minutes until the yeast softens and
begins to form a creamy foam. In a large bowl, mix the warm milk, sugar, and salt, and
mix to dissolve. Pour the yeast mixture into the milk mixture, and stir to combine.
Beat in the butter, eggs, and flour until the mixture forms a smooth, soft dough.
Cover the bowl, and let rise until doubled in bulk, about 30 minutes. Stir the dough
well, cover, and let rise 30 more minutes.
Mix honey and the water in a saucepan and bring to a boil over medium-high heat.
Turn off the heat and let the honey syrup cool.
Heat oil in a deep-fryer or large saucepan to 175o C. Oil should be about 5cm deep.
Place a large table or soup spoon in a glass of water near the batter. Scoop up about 2
tablespoons of dough per puff with the wet spoon, drop it into the wet palm of your
hand, and roll it back into the spoon to create a round shape. Do not overhandle the
puffy, soft dough. Drop the dough balls into the hot oil in batches, wetting the spoon
each time you make a dough ball. Fry in the hot oil until golden brown on the bottom,

13. and roll them over to cook the other side, 2 to 3 minutes per batch. Gently set the
loukoumades aside to drain on paper towels.
Place the loukoumades on a baking sheet, drizzle them with honey syrup, and sprinkle
with cinnamon. Serve warm.

14. Galaktoboureko
INGREDIENTS
For the filling:
 1.5L milk
 300g fine semolina
 6 egg yolks
 125g sugar
 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
 2 tablespoon unsalted butter
For the syrup:
 250g sugar
 250ml water
 5cm piece of lemon rind
 Juice of 1/2 a lemon
 450g phyllo pastry sheets
 250gunsalted butter, melted (for brushing)
STEPS
Make the Filling: In a large saucepan, heat the milk over medium high heat until just
boiling. Add the semolina and stir with a whisk. Lower the heat to medium low.
Using a whisk, beat the egg yolks with the sugar. Ladle a cup of the warmed milk into
the egg mixture to temper and then add the egg yolk mixture to the pot.
Continue to cook over medium low heat until the cream starts to thicken, stirring
continuously.
When the custard has thickened, remove from heat and stir in the vanilla extract and
the butter. Set aside.

15. Unwrap the Phyllo: Carefully remove the Phyllo roll from the plastic sleeve. To
prevent drying, cover one stack with wax paper and a damp paper towel while working
with the other.
Preheat the oven to 180O C.
Assemble the Galaktoboureko: Using a pastry brush, brush the bottom and sides of a
22 x 30 cm rectangular pan. You will use approximately half the phyllo sheets for the
bottom of the pastry. Begin by layering sheets one by one in the bottom of the pan,
making sure to brush each one thoroughly with melted butter.
When you have almost layered half the sheets, drape two sheets of phyllo so that
they extend half in the pan and half out of the pan horizontally. Add the custard in
an even layer on top of the sheets, smoothing the surface with a spatula. Fold the
phyllo sheet flaps in over the custard layer. Add the remaining sheets on top,
brushing each sheet with melted butter.
Before baking, score the top layer of phyllo (making sure not to puncture the filling
layer) to enable easier cutting of pieces later. Bake in a preheated oven for 45
minutes or until the phyllo turns a deep golden color.
While the Galaktoboureko is baking, prepare the syrup: Combine the sugar and water
in a saucepan and add the lemon peel. Boil over medium high heat for approximately 10
– 15 min. Remove the lemon peel and stir in the lemon juice. Remove from heat and set
aside to cool.

16. Caution: Do not pour hot syrup over the hot custard. Allow both to cool to room
temperature and then carefully ladle the syrup over the galaktoboureko and allow
time for it to be absorbed.
This dessert is best served the same day it is made. Once refrigerated, the custard
tends to harden and loses its lovely texture.

17. Glyko tou koutaliou portokali
INGREDIENTS
2kg oranges
2kg sugar
2 teaspoon lemon juice
STEPS
We grate the oranges
We put the oranges into a saucepan, filled with water and we bring to a boil over
medium-high heat
Once they have softened enough, we turn the heat off and let them cool before we
cut them into slices

18. We put the sliced oranges into the saucepan again, we add sugar, stir and simmer the
mixture.
Finally, before we remove from the hotplate, we add the lemon juice.