Notes about Recipes in this book

• Apple and olive oil breakfast cake

  • TrishaCP on August 20, 2021

    This cake is fantastic. It came out fluffy and moist and light and rose really well. No problems with getting the cake cooked through in the 60 minutes specified. (I went for 350F when I converted from Celsius.) My apples did sink to the bottom, but that is likely user error since I forgot to sprinkle any on top as specified in the recipe. (Sigh.) The author said on her Instagram account that you can decrease the sugar in this by 100g with no problems, so I did and it's still plenty sweet from the orange juice (subbed for apple juice) and the apples.

  • Futuregirl23 on November 28, 2022

    This is a fantastic cake! Moist and delicious, I know it’s one I’ll make again and again. Although the spices are only in the apple, rather than through the whole cake, they really come through. Beautiful.

  • Babycarrot on April 13, 2023

    Had some issues with sinking in the middle as you may be able to tell from photo. The cake itself was delicious but the bake time was off. Had to take it out early as it was browning but was still raw in the middle. Had some issues with the bake time. Probably wouldn't make again but not a total fail.

  • katmagdunn on December 14, 2025

    This was really nice! It was a big cake so did need a bit longer in the oven to finish the middle. Not very sweet for a cake. My one edit would be using a lot more apples— I didn’t think there were enough!!

• Mama’s tzatziki aka talattouri

  • TrishaCP on July 17, 2021

    This was a really good version of tzatziki. The dried mint was particularly nice.

• Spicy whipped feta with cumin (Tirokafteri)

  • tarae1204 on January 15, 2024

    Makes a large quantity — more than what’s needed to accompany the souvlaki recipe. Delicious with plain steamed broccoli the second night.

• Charred aubergine, garlic and parsley (Melitzanosalata)

  • snackbaby on May 04, 2024

    fantastic dip! really worth charring the eggplants for imo

• Roasted red pepper, chilli and feta (Htipiti)

  • metacritic on February 02, 2026

    Fine to good. Using jarred piquillo peppers, this proved an easy way to add a spread to the meal. (Added a little extra olive oil when eating this spread for breakfast today and that made all the difference. Taste, add, until satisfied)

• Fava, pickled onions with capers

  • metacritic on October 10, 2021

    Absolutely delicious white bean dip spiked with olive oil, lemon and lots of rosemary. I made a pretty significant misstep along the way. The recipe suggests cooking the beans 40 mins until they are creamy and have absorbed all the water. At 40 mins they were creamy, so I pureed, though they were swimming in water. The result was a soup, not a dip. I put it all back in the dish and cooked for another 30-40 mins on reasonably vigorous heat, rescuing the dish. You would need to cook much longer than 40 mins to absorb all the water in the first instance. I might trying halving the liquid next time.

  • tui on October 14, 2022

    I used yellow split peas as the recipe suggested. (They are often sold as toor dhal where I live. ) I didn't have quite enough for 300 grams so should have cut down the water slightly (will next time) and I was worried at first that the mixture was too runny. But as it cooled it solidified and was delicious. It went on the table as part of our weekly family dinner and everybody enjoyed it.

• Fried halloumi, mint and almonds

  • metacritic on October 14, 2025

    Easy and delicious. I'd gladly serve to casual company.

  • metacritic on January 22, 2026

    Very good (though frankly I had no recollection of having made this dish before until now) - this time added a bit of honey over the whole dish.

• Grilled spicy prawns with feta and ouzo (Garithes saganaki)

  • metacritic on January 22, 2026

    A terrific and dead easy recipe. Delicious and took 30 minutes or so from start to finish. Will make more routinely.

• Addictive fennel calamari (Kalamari me marathos)

  • metacritic on October 11, 2021

    This didn't work for me at all. It could have been user error; it could have been insufficient instruction. The flour didn't adhere to the squid. It was overcooked and insufficiently breaded. My children loved it. Spouse and I were disappointed. Won't make again.

  • DFarnham on May 14, 2023

    We loved this recipe. Made for a dinner party and it was a huge hit. Very lightly breaded and a fast fry. Served with a jarred roasted garlic aioli from Stonewall Kitchen. The fennel adds a nice flavor. Definitely a repeat. Definitely addictive.

• Cypriot pork meatballs (Keftedes)

  • DFarnham on April 13, 2023

    These do require a little work to squeeze all the moisture out of the potatoes so not super quick to throw together. Made these as part of an Easter buffet. I accidentally forgot to add the breadcrumbs, and I'm glad I did. I think they would have been a little too dry. Make sure meatballs aren't any bigger than a golf ball to avoid being raw inside. We served these with a harissa mayo. Great!

• Pumpkin, bulgur wheat and raisin pie (Kolokythopita)

  • Futuregirl23 on November 29, 2022

    This was tremendous - so tasty and very easy to make, you just need to set aside enough time to roast the squash first. I wouldn’t change anything about it and got 6 good portions for it.

  • Wormella on May 24, 2026

    Made it is stages and kept it warm until it needed to be served, really delicious combo.

• A very, very good spinach and feta pie (Spanakopita)

  • Futuregirl23 on November 28, 2022

    Delicious - I did the spinach as described, but don’t think I scrunched enough water out. However it was still lovely, despite a slightly soggy bottom!

• Roasted cauliflower in sweet tomato sauce (Kounoupidi yiahni)

  • anniecc on May 08, 2023

    This was tasty and comforting. I would have appreciated some guidance from the author about how much salt to use. In future I’d be tempted to add some chickpeas for protein, or possibly crumbled feta cheese.

• Creamy chickpeas and chard (Revithia me lahana)

  • metacritic on October 10, 2021

    This was fantastic and easy. The key here surely is to use a LOT of black pepper. I used enough high quality pepper that the heat truly came through in addition to the flavor. I haven't used that much in years but it completed the flavor profile beautifully.

• Classic baked beans (Gigantes)

  • Indio32 on September 12, 2021

    This was absolutely superb! Will definitely be making this again & again. Dried beans are always a bit of a lottery but have found a shop that's always sold the freshest of dried beans.

  • Futuregirl23 on November 16, 2022

    Really delicious!

  • Apollonia on August 25, 2023

    My beans were old and took a truly bananas amount of time to cook through, but they nonetheless (eventually) tasted great. The cinnamon was an especially nice touch.

• Slow-cooked garden beans with sausage (Fasolia me loukaniko)

  • TrishaCP on May 11, 2020

    This is a great recipe if you love white beans. I used the loukaniko sausage since I can find it at my CSA, and it added a rich, garlicky punch that was nice here. (If you make a vegan version,I strongly recommend adding garlic.)

• Fish keftedes in mustard and dill

  • Astrid5555 on December 25, 2019

    While the adults really enjoyed these keftedes, the children found the sauce too mustardy. Still very good!

  • tui on October 17, 2022

    I used 500 grams of fish (not 600 grams) as I was making a meal for three. But the recipe still made 20 good sized "fish balls" which would feed four very generously and five quite adequately. Everything was delicious and I will be serving this again, especially as the balls could be prepared ahead of time and the actual cooking doesn't take long. And it looked just like the photo!

  • Babycarrot on April 13, 2023

    Loved these! Dill and mustard lovers - these "fish" balls are for you. Super easy prep - everything went in the food processor. Some clean up required between the food processor, pan, etc. but nothing terrible. Can easily sub whatever fish is available. I used Cod. Services these with pita, would be lovely with a green veg to cut through the richness of the sauce from the crème fraîche.

  • TrishaCP on December 11, 2023

    These are amazingly good. I used lingcod and the fish balls were quite wet- possibly from using gluten-free crumbs. I had to fry the balls in three different batches, but it did not take too much time and they firmed up nicely once cooked. The sauce is delightful and not overly mustard forward- it just adds a nice zing.

• Seafood and saffron pilafi (Pilafi risi me thalassina)

  • stepharama1 on September 05, 2022

    We really enjoyed this pilaf. It includes vermicelli along with rice which give a unique touch. This tasted wonderful with yogurt as Georgina mentioned in the recipe headnote. The cinnamon and saffron spicing was just right but I added some more Urfa pepper.

• Herby pork souvlaki with mustard sauce

  • tui on January 07, 2023

    The meat was very good and the sauce was delicious. I will make it again to serve with fish or vegetables.

  • DFarnham on April 13, 2023

    This was delicious. We marinated overnight. Meat was tender and the sauce is a must. Definitely a repeat.

  • tarae1204 on January 11, 2024

    Really easy and delectable recipe that is written for a grill pan (although a grill is recommended to). The recipe includes side recipes for a simple tomato onion salad and a yogurt-mayo-honey-mustard sauce, so all the components are there. The whipped feta is not mentioned in the recipe, but also is a quick and easy recipe. I did not make chips but used some pre-boiled potatoes that I warmed and slightly mashed with olive oil and lemon.

  • metacritic on October 07, 2025

    This is fantastic. I intended to grill the kebabs but ended up using a grill pan, which still was terrific. The sauce (truly fantastic), the salad, and the tzatziki really made the dish, complementing the marinated pork perfectly. Fries strike me as essential but that's probably the result of woozy summer taverna dinners in Greece.

• Chicken souvlaki, chilli sauce and BBQ olives

  • DFarnham on April 13, 2023

    This was good, but I think chunks need to be a little larger so they don't dry out. We marinated the chicken overnight. The BBQ olives are awesome. We live in Seattle and found them on the olive bar of Metropolitan Market. We did not make the salad or the chili sauce.

  • catmummery on August 10, 2024

    very tasty; easy marinade; did for 3 hours and worked well. Agree to keep chicken pieces larger. Did with red pepper and red onion interleaved with chicken which was great. Like the other comment, loved the olives - even my olive hating husband loved them! great tangy additon to the flavours. Had with tzatsiki instead of the cucumber/tomato salad; worked well.

• Pastitsio (Makaronia tou fournou)

  • DFarnham on April 13, 2023

    We made this as part of an Easter buffet. I decided to save time and make it the night before (thinking flavors would meld etc.) then gently reheat in time for brunch. Unfortunately, the pasta gets too soft, the dish much drier, and was not as impressive as when it first comes out of the oven. That being said, I would definitely repeat but toss any leftovers. We made with bucatini and equal parts of pork and ground beef.

  • Astrid5555 on October 27, 2025

    We loved this! First time using halloumi in a baked pasta dish and it was a hit. Would gladly make again, family winner!

• Classic moussaka

  • FJT on June 05, 2021

    This was lovely with one big modification. I've never made moussaka before - and can't remember eating an authentic one in Greece - so I didn't really have anything to compare it to. However, putting 2 teaspoons of ground cinnamon plus a cinnamon stick into a meat sauce made with just 500g of mince seemed like overkill. A quick google told me that the meat sauce is supposed to have subtle hints of cinnamon ... so I reduced the cinnamon to 1.5 teaspoons and omitted the cinnamon stick. The end product left you in no doubt that it contained cinnamon, so I might reduce it further if I made it again. Otherwise it was a good project for a very wet morning and we enjoyed eating it.

  • metacritic on October 11, 2021

    This was quite good. The only thing lacking from the instructions were cues to add salt at key moments, and so the final product was under salted but otherwise phenomenal. I would add salt at every layer, which would improve the final product immensely. I find the recipes in this book result in very good dishes but the instructions are insufficient more often than not, including a lack of explanations for why certain decisions were made relating to various steps. That said, the recipes give a pretty good set of steps that will yield excellent dishes if you can improvise based on prior experience a bit along the way. Prior experience in cooking European cuisine generally helps a great deal. By the way, I adhered to the suggested amount of cinnamon and thought it just right.

  • alinutzamica on May 17, 2026

    It's a quite involved process but makes a lot so it's great for leftovers. Not a weeknight meal. The flavour is excellent. Reminder to myself: Salt the vegetables before you roast them.

• Theia Frosa’s tava

  • Astrid5555 on December 25, 2019

    This is one of these no effort to great outcome dishes! You just throw all ingredients into a pot (no browning needed) and let it simmer for 2 1\2 hours in the oven and voilà dinner is ready. Made without the rice, used potatoes only, melt-in-the-mouth soft lamb!

  • metacritic on January 14, 2024

    Delicious. It takes time but not great effort. The flavors meld beautifully as it is effectively a stew that condenses with the liquid largely cooking down until the whole dish begins to cohere. The rice likely binds everything but I confess I didn't quite notice it in the final dish.

• Caramelised fig semolina loaf

  • Babycarrot on April 13, 2023

    Lost some figs to the tin but still delicious and very moist from the orange flower water. The combo of orange, almond, fig, and semolina was very nice and makes again for a moist and tender crumb. Leftovers keep very well. Easy bake and minimal ingredients.

• Crispy lamb chops and a Cypriot salsa verde

  • DFarnham on April 13, 2023

    We made this dish as part of a Greek-inspired Easter buffet. The chops were not as flavorful as we had hoped, even with the salsa (which was good). My husband usually makes a simple marinade for his chops with lots of garlic, rosemary and olive oil that yields more flavor, so we won't repeat this recipe.

• Spice-roasted squash with dried cherries and tahini

  • DFarnham on April 13, 2023

    Wow, was this good! Made exactly as written. Completely unexpected combination, but a definite repeat. Dish was a part of an Easter buffet and everyone really enjoyed it. I forgot to save the seeds from the squash, but threw in some raw pumpkin seeds instead and they worked well. Definitely a repeat.

• Roasted saffron cauliflower with date dressing

  • metacritic on April 17, 2024

    A phenomenal side. Easy, layers of flavor, loved the dressing (which might be as at home on a layer cake as in this dish). Will make again happily.

  • snackbaby on February 18, 2025

    !!! SO good. dressing (although I did lower the number of dates, as I don't love it super sweet) is crazy delicious. not 100% sure you need the saffron if that's what's holding you back.

  • tarae1204 on March 26, 2025

    Very good! Definitely advisable to spread the dressing on a plate then set roasted cauliflower on top. I combined it all together for ease and it make the roasted cauliflower soggy. Definitely can veer too sweet.