My Greek Easter - Menu & Memories

Lits Haziran 25, 2022

As a young girl, attending the Easter Mass, festivals, and ceremonies at our town's Greek Orthodox Church was the highlight of my social calendar. At midnight during the Easter Mass, we always say “Christos Anesti ("Χριστός ἀνέστη!" - "Christ is Risen!" in Greek) to fellow attendees – and they always respond with: “Alithos Anesti” (Aληθώς ανέστη!) which means “truly he has risen.”
Then we would go home and eat sweet breads and pastries – and the next day, on Easter Sunday, we would have our feast.

While a typical Greek holiday meal might seem like overkill to a newcomer, it’s important to remember that traditionally the meal would come after a very long period of Lenten “fasting” in which meat, dairy, and sugar were avoided.
For that reason, large amounts of those same ingredients, play a key role on Easter menus.

Enjoying cinnamon drenched- melomakarona cookies and lamb-broth infused roasted potatoes were holiday traditions that I loved as a kid, and still do today. Even now, no matter how stressed out or preoccupied I become, those are the sounds and aromas which have the power to elevate my mood like no others. My step-grandmother or Yia Yia, as I called her, whose family hailed from the beautiful Byzantine town of Nafpaktos, always put on a fantastic Easter party. Many of the recipes I am sharing with you today are hers, even though this menu is just a small portion of what we would actually eat on Easter, I’m sure they’re enough to keep anyone reading this post busy for a few days! While they may not all be possible to make during the current world situation, I can assure you that even adding one or two into your repertoire will be worth the effort.

Greek Easter Menu 2020

Tsourekia/Greek Easter Bread

Pastitsio/Baked Pasta with Meat and Béchamel Sauce

Tiropita/Herb and Cheese-Filled Phyllo Triangles

Oven Roasted Leg of Lamb

Stewed Green Beans

Cypriot Salad

Walnut and Cinnamon Baklava

Malomakarona/ Spice-Scented Semolina and Walnut Cookies

Kourembiedes/Almond-Butter Cookies

Recipes:

Tsourekia/Greek Easter Bread

(Note: this was my YiaYia's recipe...if you prefer to dye your eggs red naturally, as I know do- you can use this method...beautifully explained by my friend - author/tv-host and storyteller, Jonathan.

Pastitsio/Baked Pasta with Meat and Béchamel Sauce

This classic recipe is the crowning glory of many Greek celebratory tables - and for good reason. This version comes from a lovely seaside in Ikaria - where Indigo Gazelle Tours and I held a cooking class during our last cuisine, culture and wellness tour in Greece.

For the ground meat

4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

2 onions, finely chopped

Handful of thyme, fresh

1 clove of garlic, finely chopped

2 tablespoons tomato paste

1.5 pounds ground beef

1 cup red wine

8 ounces canned tomatoes

1 teaspoon cinnamon

2 bay leaves

1/2 bunch parsley

For the béchamel sauce

4 tablespoons butter

4 tablespoons all-purpose flour

4 cups whole milk, warmed

salt

pepper

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

½ cup gruyere cheese, grated (or Kasseri if you are able to get it)

3 egg yolks

For the pasta

1 pound bucatini pasta, or ziti, or penne

2 eggs

1 cup feta cheese

1/2 bunch parsley, chopped

¼ cup olive oil

For the ground meat

Place a skillet over high heat. Add 2 tablespoons of olive oil, onions, and finely chopped thyme.

Sauté for 3-4 minutes, until the onions caramelize nicely.

Add the garlic and continue to sauté.

Add the tomato paste and sauté for at least 2 minutes. Add the ground meat. Break it up with a wooden spoon and brown for 4-5 minutes. At this point you may need to add another 2 tablespoons of olive oil.

Add the wine and let the alcohol evaporate.

Add the canned tomatoes, cinnamon, sugar, and bay leaves.

Turn the heat down to low and simmer for 10-20 minutes, until the sauce reduces and the ground meat is cooked.

When ready, remove from heat. Discard the bay leaves and set aside until needed.

For the béchamel sauce

Heat the butter in a saucepan over medium heat. As soon as it melts, add the flour. Beat with a hand whisk and sauté the flour for a few minutes.

With a spatula, scrape down the sides of the pot to release any flour, so it doesn’t burn.

Add the milk, in small batches, whisking continuously so that no lumps form in the mixture.

The mixture will be quite thick at first, but it will thin out as you add milk.

When the béchamel sauce starts to thicken, you have to be very careful not to let it burn on the bottom. Whisk continuously to avoid this, I prefer a plastic coated whisk so that it does not scrape bottom of pan if it is coated.

Béchamel sauce is done when it coats the back of a spoon. At this point, remove from heat and add salt, pepper, nutmeg and most of grated gruyere – reserving a few tablespoons for the end. To complete, whisk in the remaining 3 egg yolks. Set aside until needed.

For the pasta

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add salt and pasta. Boil 1-2 minutes less than the instructions on the box. They need to be al dente because they will cook further in the oven, so do not overcook.

Brush a baking pan with olive oil.

When the pasta is ready, drain and spread in the baking dish.

Add the 2 eggs, lightly beaten, a generous amount of thyme, parsley and crumbled feta cheese. Season to taste and set aside until needed.

To assemble

Preheat oven to 350 F degrees

To the ground meat, add ladleful of the béchamel sauce. Mix until completely incorporated.

The béchamel sauce will make the ground meat mixture hold together better when serving.

Spread the ground meat mixture over the pasta in the baking pan.

Pour the remaining béchamel sauce over the ground meat.

Last, sprinkle the reserved grated gruyere over the top.

Bake for 40 minutes or until the béchamel turns golden brown.

Tiropita/Feta Cheese and Herb Stuffed Phyllo Triangles

Oven Roasted Leg of Lamb

Click on link above for recipe - Picture from The Mediterranean Diabetes Cookbook

Stewed Green Beans
Recipe from The Ultimate Mediterranean Diet Cookbook