Recipes with Loulla Astin: Cyprus favourites

Keftedes (Cypriot meatballs)

We all love meatballs! When we were living in Cyprus we were the only children in Avgorou village eating them with ketchup! Our father used to work for the English army in the Naafi store, so he use to bring us a few bottles of ketchup.

In Cyprus, the meatballs are always made with minced pork but in Greece they are made with minced lamb or beef or a mixture. The choice is yours, you can also use minced chicken. In the old days they used to make the meatballs with corned beef. In Greece, they don’t add potatoes to the mixture, just breadcrumbs, and both are nice. Meatballs are a great favourite of both young and old, and they are very simple to prepare and highly appetizing. They are often found as part of a Meze or a buffet, but shaped into smaller balls. They taste as good hot or cold.

Serves 6
1 kg mixed minced pork, lamb or beef
1 large or 2 medium onions-grated or shallots
2-3 large Cypriot potatoes, grated and strained, (pace on a cloth and squeezed dry)
2 eggs
50g fresh breadcrumbs
1 tsp baking powder (optional)
4-6 tbsp finely chopped flat parsley or blended
2 tbsp finely chopped mint or blended or 1 tbsp dried
1 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tsp sea-salt
Freshly ground black pepper
2 tbsp vinegar or red wine (optional)
Some like to add 2 tbsp grated cheese
Vegetable oil for frying

Place all the ingredients in a large bowl except the vegetable oil, season with freshly ground black pepper, cinnamon and salt, mix well by hand until well combined. Cover the bowl and refrigerate for 30 minutes to 1 hour.

With wet hands, take small amounts of the mixture and form into golf-sized balls or into thick, short finger shapes, like the Cypriots make them. Fry one meatball first, taste it and adjust seasoning.

Heat the vegetable oil in a deep fryer or wok and fry a few at a time on a medium heat until nicely browned, about 8 minutes, turning to cook the other side. Make sure they are cooked through. You could also cook them in a deep fryer if you like. Remove from the oil and drain on kitchen paper.

Serve the meatballs hot with chips and tomato ketchup or cold as a buffet dish.

NB They can also be served in a tomato sauce and pasta!

Baklava & Kadaifi Rolls

This dessert combines both Kadaifi and Filo pastry to make a delicious type of Baklava which, although the flavours of both are the same, you have different textures to tease your palate with the shredded pastry on the inside, surrounded by the crispy filo.

Kadaifi Pastry
300-400g Kadaifi pastry, defrosted if frozen
150g ghee melted or clarified butter
Filo Pastry
15-16 sheets (1 x 470-475g) filo pastry, defrosted if frozen
150g melted ghee or clarified butter
Filling
250g-300g almonds & walnuts, mixed, chopped
4 tbsp rusk crumbs (Paximathia)
½ tsp ground cinnamon
¼ tsp ground cloves
1 tbsp caster sugar
1-2 tbsp rosewater
Syrup
400g sugar
350ml water
1 small piece cinnamon
4 cloves
Juice of ½ lemon
2 tbsp honey
For decoration
Ground pistachio nuts
1 shallow baking tray, 33 x 25cm

Preheat the oven to 170C.

Prepare the syrup, place the sugar and water in a small saucepan, and bring to the boil, stir until the sugar dissolves, then simmer for 5-8 minutes, add honey and lemon juice then remove from the heat.

Mix the filling ingredients together, adding the rosewater.

Untangle the kadeifi pastry and fluff it up by pulling and separating the strands with your fingers. Place them in a large bowl, sprinkle with 2 tablespoons warm water and the melted butter then mix to coat the strands with the butter and water. Cover with a damp tea towel to stop the pastry drying out.

Open the filo pastry, cover with a damp cloth. Take 3 leaves of filo pastry, brush each one with butter and place them one top of each other. Take a small handful of the kadaifi pastry (50g) and place it on the longer side of the filo pastry, near you, in a thick strip, add about 2 tablespoons of the nut filling along the kadaifi. Roll the filo like a thick sausage or thin salami, brushing with butter as you are rolling it.

Place the finished rolls on your prepared baking tray, side by side, but not touching each other. When you’ve finished all the rolls, brush with any remaining butter. Place the tray in the fridge for 10 minutes (it’s easier to cut when the butter has set.)

Cut into small pieces (2 inch/ 5cm wide) or any size you like, I usually get 5 pieces out of each roll. Sprinkle with a little water and place it in the preheated oven and bake for about 45 minutes so the kadaifi cooks, and until the rolls are lightly golden. Do not brown.

Remove from the oven and spoon the lukewarm syrup slowly all over the hot pastry. Let it stand to absorb the syrup and to go completely cold.

Cut carefully, following the portions you made earlier and sprinkle with finely ground pistachio nuts.

Loulla’s book My Kosmos My Kitchen can be ordered from www.amazon.com or www.austinmacauley.com/book/my-kosmos-my-kitchen. For more traditional Greek and Cypriot recipes and inspiration, join Loulla’s Facebook group Loulla’s Recipe Share