Last week I decided to fry the tomatoes, and instead of mixing in the eggs, I nestled them in the pan, and after 2-3 minutes, I moved the pan to a 200 C oven and baked for 5-8 minutes, until the eggwhite was opaque. We enjoyed it enormously with fresh crusty bread. 

Plain scrambled eggs are not a common Greek dish, but a huge egg and tomato scramble, as you might find in a Greek diner in America, is still a national institution. Some people add crumbled feta in the pan, but I much prefer to sprinkle it at the end; I enjoy my strapatsada with toasted bread or with olive-oil-fried potato slices, a heavenly combination!

Serve with toasted multi-grain, whole-wheat bread and a green salad, or with roast vegetables I often serve it with toasted bulgur pilaf, but simple sliced potatoes fried in olive oil are still my favorite complement.

See also the Scrambled Eggs with Fava beans which is another somewhat different, yet equally delicious combination. 

Menemen, the Turkish version, has diced peppers, both sweet and hot, along with tomatoes and chopped scallions. The Provençale bruillade à l’Arlésienne (scrambled eggs from Arles) has grated zucchini, tomatoes and garlic (see variations). Much like classic scrambled eggs, strapatsada needs to be soft and creamy, not dry or too watery. I use my own tomato confit or add a few sun-dried tomatoes to the pan to get the intense tomato flavor I remember from my childhood. 

Serves 2-4 as a main course, 5-6 as part of a meze spread

12 ripe plum tomatoes, confit (recipe follows) or 6  canned plum tomatoes (best quality), drained, plus 6 sun-dried tomatoes, coarsely chopped

2-3 tablespoons olive oil (less if you use tomato confit)

4-5 eggs

Salt

1/4 cup thick Greek yogurt

1 good pinch Maraş pepper or red pepper flakes, to taste

Feta cheese, crumbled (optional)

Good fruity olive oil, for drizzling

1 tablespoon chopped fresh oregano or thyme (optional)

2-3 tablespoons coarsely chopped parsley (optional)

Toasted whole-wheat bread slices, for serving

If you use tomato confit, place in a skillet together with their oil and cook over medium-high heat, stirring often to thicken.

If you use canned and sun-dried tomatoes, warm 4 tablespoons olive oil in a skillet, add the tomatoes and cook over medium-high heat, stirring often for 10 minutes or until thickened.

In a bowl beat the eggs lightly with a pinch of salt and the yogurt.

Lower the heat and add the eggs to the tomatoes, sprinkle with the pepper and cook, tossing often with a wooden spatula until the eggs are just set. Be careful not to overcook the eggs.

Transfer to a shallow bowl and serve warm or at room temperature.  Sprinkle with Feta, if you like, drizzle with fruity olive oil, and add fresh oregano, thyme, or parsley, if you like.

Alternatively, you can spread tablespoons of the strapatsada on toasts and serve as bruschetta.   

VARIATIONS:

Menemen (Turkish Tomato and Pepper Scrambled Eggs)

Sauté 1 red or green bell pepper, seeded and diced, until soft. Add the tomatoes to the pan and proceed as above.

Bruillade à l’Arlésienne (Scrambled Eggs from Arles)

Grate a small zucchini and sauté in 1 tablespoon olive oil until soft. Add a small, minced garlic clove with the tomatoes and proceed as above.

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Obviously, whoever first combined these basic ingredients created a salad delicious enough to be copied, improved upon and even exported and become a household dish all over the world!

Probably the famous Greek Salad was actually inspired by the summer salad-meals of the peasants. Its main ingredient, the juicy vine-ripened tomatoes, complemented with onions and all kinds of garden vegetables and greens –cucumber, purslane, or some flavorful pickled green, like kritama (rock-samphire) that was originally a Chios island addition, and now has become part of the ‘exotic’ creative salads served in Mykonos and Santorini.

The salad has sweet and sometimes mildly hot peppers, and it is always topped with feta.  In its original village past the salad/meal could have any kind of local cheese, as well as olives, and maybe capers or caper leaves. Horiatiki is scented with dried, wild oregano or savory, and doused with plenty of fruity olive oil. It might also contain salted sardines, and was often made more substantial with the addition of stale bread or crumbled paximadia (barley rusks), which soak up the delicious juices.

I vaguely remember my parents snubbing horiatiki, as an overpriced salad created by sly tavern owners. Up until then in the summer one ordered a tomato salad, with or without onions and cucumber, and separately a slice of feta cheese which came drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with oregano.

My parents, along with other people we knew, had come to the conclusion that horiatiki’s cost exceeded that of the usual salad and feta combination.  It was a gimmick for the tourists, according to my father, but also later on some of my friends, who refused to order it; they thought that even when the salad became cheaper and a kind of standard all over Greece, taverns adopted it as a way for to serve inferior quality, and  smaller pieces of feta; my parents kept on ordering tomato salad and feta, separately.

Eventually, though, the horiatiki invention backfired. Budget tourists were feasting on this horiatiki/Greek salad, ordering it as a main lunch or dinner and tavern owners started to complain about ‘the horiatiki tourists’ who were almost ruining their business during high season…

Of course the taste of Greek salad depends entirely on the quality and freshness of its ingredients. The traditional Greek winter version, not called horiatiki, is based on crunchy leaves of Romaine lettuce, that are complemented with spicy wild arugula, and fragrant herbs (fennel, dill, mint, borage and plenty of scallions). This salad seldom has tomatoes, and never depends on the tasteless, pale green-house tomatoes sold in supermarkets…

RECIPE: Paximadia Horiatiki or Greek Salad with Rusks, Feta and Capers

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To make it substitute cabbage for the other greens in the recipe for Risotto with Greens.

 Although I think that it tastes best piping hot, it could also be served at room temperature, as my husband likes it too.

Serves 3 as main course; 5-6 as a side dish

About 1/3 cup olive oil

1 1/2 cups finely chopped onions

3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced (optional)

4-5 cups shredded cabbage, not too thinly

2 medium carrots, grated

1 ½ tablespoon tomato paste

1 ¼  cups Arborio rice or other good-quality medium grain rice

1/2 cup white wine

2 cups cherry tomatoes, halved

Salt and plenty of Aleppo/Maras pepper flakes, to taste

½ cinnamon stick

About 8 cups very hot vegetable or chicken broth, or water (see NOTE)

 Good olive oil for drizzling

Freshly ground pepper, to taste

Diced feta, Grated Parmesan, Grana Padano or aged Graviera (optional)

1 lemon or lime, quartered (optional) .

Warm the olive oil and sauté the onions for about 8 minutes, on medium-low, tossing often. Add the garlic, if using, and toss a few times then add the cabbage and carrots and increase the heat to medium-high. Sauté another 4-6 minutes, until the cabbage is softened and glistening.

Add the tomato paste and toss a few times. Pour in the wine, add salt and pepper flakes, and cook for another cook for a few minutes, until the wine evaporates.

 Add the rice and the cinnamon stick and stir a few times, then pour in 1 cup of hot broth and cook, stirring frequently. Add the cherry tomatoes and continue adding broth by the ladle, as the rice absorbs the liquid, until it is almost cooked, about 15 minutes until the rice is al dente.

Remove from the heat. Add pepper and lemon juice, if you like and fold in the cheese, if you like, or serve the cheese separately.  Ttaste to correct the seasoning, finishing with a drizzle of good olive oil and some finely grated lemon juice and zest, if you like.  

Serve immediately.  

NOTE:

Instead of vegetable broth, soak 1/2 cup dried Porcini mushrooms in warm water for 20 minutes.  Chop them finely with scissors and add to the rice with their strained liquid, after the wine has evaporated. Cook the risotto as described, adding boiling water in place of stock as needed. 

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Last winter we did not get much rain in Kea, and this, the 2021, summer was particularly hot for more than a couple of days: for about two exhausting weeks the temperature remaining very high, even at night, something quite rare.  

Back in the spring, we had already noticed that the vegetation was far from lush this year, and  then by June we realized our trees were not doing well at all.  The big fig tree, whose particularly large leaves Costas uses to wrap the sea bass for grilling, had fewer and much smaller leaves, and the figs were tiny and far from abundant.  

And our lemon trees that produce wonderfully aromatic thick-skin lemons look particularly tortured.  

The only thing that is thriving this strange summer is our small, much-pampered vegetable garden, where we added extra compost and organic fertilizer –basically dried sea weeds.

Every cloud has a silver lining

On the other hand, less rain and humidity brought less bugs, and with the appropriate drip irrigation we managed to produce more vegetables. Our heirloom rose bushes, planted next to the vegetable patches along with other flowering plants, and most importantly, various aromatics like basil, oregano, European thyme, mint, and rose geraniums, were thriving as well in our small vegetable garden! And no beetles around to devour the roses, for a change..

As we are collecting our tomatoes, squash, peppers, and Sicilian eggplants, we remember that every cloud has a silver lining; yet still, we do hope for more rain and less heat next year!

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The dressing/relish is versatile and you can also use it over grilled chicken, fish or meat. This bright and fresh dish is ideal for picnics and garden dining.

See also the purslane-tomato relish I had posted earlier. 

Serves about 20 as a meze and 10-12 as summer lunch

600 grams small plum tomatoes, halved lengthwise

2/3 cup chopped scallions green onions) 2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme

1 cup chopped fresh coriander (cilantro)

3-4 chopped pickled green peppers –NOT very hot

500 grams Barrel-aged Greek feta cut into longish, about ¼ inch slices

DRESSING:

4 teaspoons pickling juice from the peppers

4 tablespoons Greek white wine vinegar

½ cup Greek fruity EVO, plus more to drizzle

1 tablespoon coarsely ground coriander seeds

Zest from one lemon (fine)

90 grams Paximadia (barley rusks) coarsely crumbled OR toasted stale whole-wheat, multi-grain bread 

In a bowl toss the tomatoes with the dressing and herbs –minus the lemon zest– and let macerate for about 1 hour.

Transfer to a sieve placed over a bowl to collect the juices.

To serve, spread the crumbled paximadia on a plate, sprinkle with the juices collected in the bowl, place the feta slices over the paximadia and arrange the tomatoes on top. Drizzle with fruity olive oil and sprinkle with the lemon zest.

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Throughout Italy there are many versions of raw tomato sauces: a similar dish I had published in my Mediterranean Hot and Spicy.  It was more spicy, based in Crudaiola the name used for the sauce in Puglia –the heal of the Italian boot.

Similar sauces are whipped-up all over the Italian south and probably more famous is pesto Trapanese, from the eponymous Sicilian city, which combines almonds, tomatoes, and cheese. I recently came accross this other Sicilian peasant version in Serious Eats: ‘Spaghetti Alla Carrettiera’ which I consider by far the best of the raw tomato sauces; and also the simplest.

As we read in the recipe’s intro “In the olden days, wandering cart drivers would crisscross the Italian countryside, selling goods, wares, and basic cooking ingredients to the townspeople along the way. When they were hungry, they’d quickly whip up a sauce like this using just the basic ingredients they had on their cart.” One can add cheese, but I found that it is not really needed. I suggest you try it first without.

Following the Greek and Eastern Mediterranean tradition I do not blanch and skin, or seed the tomatoes, but simply cut in half and grate them to get their pulp. I always felt that the greenish jelly around the tomato’s seeds is especially delicious, so I don’t want to lose it.

This uncooked tomato sauce is extremely versatile ideal for pasta but can also be the topping for bruschetta, the dressing for cooked beans, or for grilled fish, meat or poultry.

You need to make it when tomatoes are at their best, red and meaty.  Because I like it so much, I freeze several batches of fresh summer tomato pulp to make it even in winter.

The recipe is adapted from Serious Eats.

Serves 3-4

About 1 pound (450g) ripe, non-refrigerated tomatoes (3-4 tomatoes)

About 1/4 cup (60ml) fruity olive oil, more for drizzling

1/4 cup loosely packed, roughly chopped fresh basil leaves, plus a few more for serving

3 medium cloves garlic, very finely minced

1 large pinch red pepper flakes

Salt

1 pound (450g) dried spaghetti or linguine

About 1/2 cup (35g) toasted breadcrumbs, preferably whole wheat

Grated Kefalotyri or Pecorino for serving (optional)

Cut each tomato in half and discard the hard stem. Holding the skin side of the tomato half grate it slowly and carefully on a large-hole onion grater into a large heatproof mixing or serving bowl. You will be left with just the tomato skin. It is okay if some slightly larger pieces of tomatoes remain. Add olive oil, basil, garlic, and red pepper flakes. Stir well and season with salt to taste. Set aside.

In a pot boil enough water for the pasta, and season with salt. Cook the spaghetti or linguine, stirring frequently, until al dente. When pasta has almost finished cooking, transfer about 3 tablespoons cup pasta cooking water to the tomato mixture and whisk to form an emulsion.

Using tongs, transfer pasta to tomato mixture and vigorously toss and stir to emulsify the sauce and coat the pasta. If it seems dry, add a bit more pasta cooking water.

Add half of the breadcrumbs and toss to combine. The pasta should be well coated with creamy, emulsified sauce. If it still seems dry, add extra pasta water and olive oil, 1 tablespoon (15ml) at a time, until it reaches the desired consistency. Taste for seasoning.

Transfer the pasta to warmed plates and sprinkle with remaining breadcrumbs and some additional torn basil leaves. Top with cheese, if desired.

Serve right away.

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See also the Smoked Cheese and Kumquat Bread which is basically the winter version of my topped breads. For a more spicy-aromatic topping spread Zaatar mixed with olive oil over the tomatoes.

Yields 2 laganes (focaccia-like flat breads), each serving 6-8 people as appetizer

2 cups fine semolina or pasta flour
3 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup barley flour (optional) or 1 more cup whole wheat flour
2 teaspoons instant dry yeast
2 teaspoons salt
3 1/2 teaspoons mixed ground coriander seeds, caraway and mahlep (optional)
1/2 teaspoon ground white pepper (optional)
About 3  1/2 cups spring water (preferably non chlorinated), or more, as needed

3 cups coarsely grated or shaved Metsovone, or aged smoked cheddar cheese

2-3 large beefsteak tomatoes, thinly sliced (as needed)

2 tablespoons or more rosemary leaves

About 4 tablespoons olive oil

Finishing salt and Aleppo pepper, or freshly ground black pepper, to taste (optional)

Place flours, yeast and spices in the bowl of a standing mixer and toss with a spatula. Make a well in the center and pour in the 2 cups of water.

Fit the bowl to the mixer and work with the dough hook on low for 1 minute. With the motor running add water as needed and work the dough for 5 minutes or more, occasionally stopping to turn over the dough with a large spatula. The dough should still be wet and somewhat sticky, but should start to come off the sides of the bowl. If too dry, add a little more water, if too wet add a few tablespoons of all purpose flour.

Lightly oil a large transparent or semi-transparent bowl, as well as a piece of plastic wrap. Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured surface and shape into a ball. Transfer to the oiled bowl. Cover with the oiled plastic wrap and let rise until double its original volume: about 1 hour or more.

(When the dough has expanded to about 1 1/2 times its size you may transfer the bowl with the dough to the refrigerator, and leave it overnight and up to 24 hours. It will continue to rise slowly. Before proceeding further, bring to room temperature).

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and halve with a spatula.
Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper and place one piece of dough on each. Wet your fingers and push the dough making dimples with wet fingers, expanding it to fill the baking sheet. Cover with oiled plastic wraps and let the laganes rise for another 30 minutes –they won’t rise much.

Preheat the oven to 450°F (240° C).

Spread most of the cheese (keep 3-4 tablespoons) over each of the breads pushing and making dimples again, then arrange the tomato slices and top of the cheese, to almost cover the surface. Sprinkle with the rest of the cheese and the rosemary, and drizzle lightly with olive oil. If you like, sprinkle with some finishing salt and pepper.

Turn on the broiler and place the first baking sheet 5-6 inches from the broiler. Bake for about 5 minutes, until the cheese melts. Move the bread to the bottom of the oven, and slide the other baking sheet to its place. After another 5 minutes, turn off the broiler and lower the heat to 375°F.

Transfer the second bread closer to the bottom of the oven, bellow the first, and continue baking for another 15 minutes, changing once more the positions of the breads –always at the lower part of the oven. Check that both breads are well browned on top and bottom, or bake them a bit longer. When done, transfer to a rack to cool for about 10 minutes, before slicing to serve.

VARIATIONS:

Spread Zaatar mixed with olive oil over the tomatoes for a more spicy-aromatic topping. Instead of the basic dough, you could use the Tomato Salad Bread as base for this appetizer, one of the most popular among our friends and Kea Artisanal guests.

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Instead of sugar, I sweeten the sauce with currents. 

Beyond pasta, the sauce can be used on flat,  breads complemented with crumbled feta or any other cheese. It is the basis for the vegetarian mousaka, and also for the stuffing for papoutsakia (eggplant slippers), with the addition of chopped, sauteed bell peppers and feta, graviera or any other cheese, with or without walnuts, or other nuts.

Yields about 3 cups sauce, enough for 1 pound pasta      

1/3  cup olive oil

1 cup coarsely chopped red onions

1 tablespoon tomato paste

1 cup sweet wine, such as Mavrodaphne or sweet Marsala

½  to 1  teaspoon Aleppo pepper or 1/4–1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

2 1/2 cups ripe tomatoes (about 1 1/2 pounds) halved and grated on an onion grater, or chopped –not seeded OR one 16-ounce can diced tomatoes with their juice

1 cinnamon stick

2 bay leaves (or 1-2 rosemary or thyme sprigs)

Salt

A handful of currents or raisins, or sugar (optional)

In a medium saucepan, heat the oil and sauté the onions over medium heat for about 3 minutes, or until soft. Add the tomato paste and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes until glossy.

Add the wine and pepper and simmer 1 minute. Add the tomatoes, cinnamon stick, and bay leaves, salt and, if you like,  a handful of currents or 1 teaspoon sugar, or to taste.

Bring to a boil,  reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer for about 20 minutes, or until the sauce thickens.

Remove from the heat and discard the cinnamon stick and bay leaves.

If you like the sauce smooth, pulse with a stick-blender. I prefer my sauce chunky.

The sauce will keep in the refrigerator for up to 6 days, but if you like to make a big batch, you can freeze part of it.

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Horiatiki, that has inspired the ubiquitous Greek Salad, is scented with dried, wild oregano or savory, and doused with plenty of fruity olive oil. It might also contain salted sardines, and was often made more substantial with the addition of stale bread or crumbled paximadia (barley rusks), which soak up the delicious juices.

Read HERE the story and roots of this iconic salad.

Serves 6 to 8 

4 cups paximadia (barley rusks) in bite-size pieces (or stale, toasted, good quality multi-grain bread)

2 pounds summer ripe and firm tomatoes that have not been refrigerated (big or small, any color or a combination of different heirloom tomatoes)

1 large white onion, thinly sliced

3-4 tablespoons capers, drained

1 cup purslane leaves (optional)

1/2 cup coarsely chopped tender arugula, flat-leaf parsley, or a combination of parsley and fresh oregano or thyme

2 1/2 cups diced feta cheese

1 tablespoon dry Greek oregano

1/2 cup fruity good olive oil, or more

1-2 pickled chilies, minced (optional)

Zest of 1 non-treated lemon (optional)

Freshly ground pepper, to taste

Salt, to taste

Spread the paximadia or bread at the bottom of a salad bowl or container. Using serrated knife, slice the tomatoes into roughly 1 1/2–inch pieces and scatter them over the paximadia, letting the juices penetrate the bread. Arrange the onion rings and purslane (if using) over the tomatoes, sprinkle the capers and other herbs, over the onions. Top with the feta and sprinkle with the oregano.

In a bowl, whisk together the olive oil with the chilies and lemon zest (if using), along with a few cracks of black pepper and some salt — keeping in mind that capers and feta are quite salty so you may not need extra.

Cover the bowl with a kitchen towel and let stand for one hour in a cool place. If you won’t serve it within the hour and the weather is hot, let the salad rest in the refrigerator.

Toss thoroughly just before serving.

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Of course it is better with home-made bread dough –I prefer to use my whole grain one— which I shape into longish flat-breads, let them rest a bit, then mix one egg into my versatile Spicy Meat Sauce so that it more or less keeps its shape as it bakes, and can be picked up and eaten without falling apart, as most Lachmacun do.

Serves 2  (2 pieces)  

½ pound bread dough, preferably whole wheat (I use THIS one), risen and ready to be shaped

2 cups Spicy Ground Meat Sauce

1 egg, slightly beaten

2 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme leaves, plus sprigs to decorate

6-7 cherry tomatoes, halved

Olive oil for drizzling

Halve the dough, and place each piece on a baking sheet, lined with parchment paper. With fingers dipped in water, flatten each piece, making sure you keep the two pieces well apart. Flattening and stretching the dough create two ovals, about 24 X 16 cm. (9 ½ X 6 1/2 inches).

Sprinkle with water and let the dough stand for 30-40 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 475 F (240 C) placing an empty baking sheet close to the bottom of the oven.

Add the egg and the thyme to the Spicy Meat and stir to mix.

Press, the dough again with your fingers, to flatten, then divide the meat and spread on the two pieces, leaving a little border all around, and lifting it, to make a border that will keep the meat from falling. Spread the halved tomatoes on the meat, and drizzle with a little olive oil.

Carefully slide the paper with breads on the pre-heated baking dish –it is easier done if you cut the parchment paper and slide each lachmacun separately on the heated pan.

Bake for about 20 minutes, or until the bread around has nicely browned, and the meat is sizzling. Remove from the oven and let stand 5 minutes, then decorate with the thyme sprigs and serve.

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