Greek Feast! Individual Spanakopita, Aioli, Honey Sesame Baked Feta

Greek food is awesome. I have always found the Greeks to be like a Mediterranean version of the Irish. The Greeks and Irish are both family orientated, with a matriarchal society, and use food as love. But the Greeks are more tanned than us. And their cuisine is superior.

There is a seriously amazing Greek restaurant nearby which is a family affair - dad and mum cook, sons hold the floor. It's my favourite restaurant and if I'm not there, chances are I want to be there. 

And then last weekend, my Greek friend made some amazing Greek food for dinner which I completely PIGGED OUT at. Everything was delicious (how had I never had moussaka before?!) but I was completely enamoured with the individual spinach pies (spanakopita). I had to make them. I bothered him for a week for the recipe. And as soon as I had it in my grubby hands, I made them. Winner.

Then, as I was feeling pretty Greek, I baked the leftover feta (warmed sweet and nutty cheese? Hello!) and whipped up some aioli.

The aioli was pretty easy to make, and much better than my last, disastrous, effort at making mayonnaise. 

Baklava

I'm posting this in anticipation of New Year - I think baklava would make a  kick-ass addition to a New Year's party spread, and I'm not just saying that because I'm currently in Istanbul!

A somewhat non-traditional festive item, I was inspired by some leftover filo pastry (see: Christmas samosas). I love baklava but have never had the nerve to make my own. UNTIL NOW!

This, for me, is the perfect antidote to the normal Christmas fare. As much as I love my tins of garishly coloured and highly flavoured chocolates (and I do, the wrappers in my bin tell a tale..), these delicate, nutty, nibbly, shiny, sticky morsels are just perfection, and made an epic Christmas day dessert!

They’re fairly easy to make as long as you pre-buy your filo, which is totally acceptable because Mary Berry does it, damnit! I did find mine a little sticky and tricky to extricate from the pan, but it wasn’t the end of the world.

Also, I’ve gone a bit non-traditional by adding cinnamon (because it’s Christmas) and orange juice (instead of orange blossom, because I didn’t think ahead and buy it), and cooking a bit more after the syrup has been placed on. I have it on good authority that this is key to a good pastry.

Makes one lovely tray of deliciousness