GREENS CASSEROLE

By Katerina Hamilaki
My Athivoles
From the cookbook “Logari”

Memories roam in fields like those of St. John, Varna and Paliochora, where my mother and I picked the greens.  “Picking greens is an art,” my mother would say, “but it is not only art, as art is also the skill to enjoy the wealth of nature by allowing its elements, earth, water, sun and wind run their course…”

~Katerina Hamilaki

Ingredients:

Filling:

• 3 lbs of greens*, washed and chopped
• 2 spring onions, chopped
• 1 cup olive oil (for frying)
• salt, pepper, cumin, to taste

n *Ideal greens for casseroles include leeks, fennel, kafkalithres, wild carrot, labatha, galatsides, tsohoi, wild parsley.

Pastry Dough:

• 1 cup olive oil
• Juice of one lemon
• Cup of lukewarm water
• 50 grams Tsikoudia (Cretan liquor)
• Flour (amount will be the touch, so have a couple of cups handy)

Instructions:

Boil the greens for 30 minutes in a pot with the olive oil and salt.

Strain and add the pepper and cumin.

Combine the ingredients for the pastry dough, use enough flour that the dough is firm (like pie crust dough).  Roll out a thin pastry sheet and cut out large circles.   You can use a wide rimmed water glass as your form to cut the circles.

Place a tablespoon of the filling into each round dough cut-out, fold into crescent shapes.  You may use a little water to seal the crescent, or a fork to press the edges together.

Fry the small pies in olive oil until golden brown and then transfer to a plate lined with paper towel to absorb excess oil.

Serve hot.

These are excellent little “mezes” (appetizers) to be served with tsikoudia, along with other favorites like lagoudomaximado, arhatzikous and metaxota! n