This Dish Is A Treat For Your Tastebuds!

This is a wonderful dish that I concocted and cooked for my daughter Randi and her husband Dan last summer.  They are both huge aficionados of Greek food and they were getting ready to go on a trip to Greece.  They wanted to get into the spirit of things, so I cooked them a shrimp dish with a distinctive Greek flavor.  They both went crazy for this dish!  

• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 5-6 garlic cloves minced
• 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1 pint of grape or cherry tomatoes, halved if you are using larger cherry tomatoes
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 pound of raw extra large shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 1/2 cup of fresh Italian parsley, chopped and divided 1/4 cup and 1/4 cup
• 4 oz. feta cheese, crumbled
• 1/2 pound of spaghetti
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (use a little of the grated rind if you like a more intense lemony flavor) 
• a few grinds of freshly cracked pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Heat the olive oil in a large skillet.  Add the red pepper flakes and the minced garlic.  Saute 1 minute over low flame.  Add the tomatoes.  Sprinkle the tomatoes with the salt and 1/4 cup of the parsley.  Saute over medium flame until the tomatoes start to look soft or cracked- about 3-4 minutes.  Add the shrimp, and cook for about 3-4 minutes just until the shrimp are starting to not look raw.  Take off stove.  Put into casserole dish.  Sprinkle crumbled feta on top and bake in a preheated 400 degree oven for about 10 minutes. Take out of oven and sprinkle shrimp with reserved 1/4 cup chopped parsley and 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice and a little freshly cracked black pepper.   

Cook spaghetti while shrimp is in the oven.   When you are ready to serve, put a portion of spaghetti on each dinner plate, and then a portion of the shrimp on top of the spaghetti.

Notes: 

1.  You can serve over rice instead of over spaghetti.

2.  You can prepare the dish ahead up until the point where you put the shrimp in the casserole dish, cover it and then refrigerate it.  About a half hour before you put it in the 400 degree oven, take it out of the fridge and let it come up to room temperature.  Then bake in the 400 degree oven for 10 minutes.

This Is The Best Recipe For Passover Spinach Pie Or Passover Spanikopita!

Last year, our wonderful friends, the Slotnicks, invited us over for a Passover Seder.  I wanted to bring a main course dish that my daughter and her husband, who are both vegetarians, would enjoy.  My daughter loves the Greek dish called spanikopita or spinach pie, so I decided to create my own Passover version of it.  It turned out delicious!  And it only took about 30 minutes to prepare.  We’re getting very close to Passover, and I definitely plan to make this Passover spanikopita for Seder or just for a light dinner this year!

• about 6 matza boards
• 5 extra large or jumbo eggs (3 for filling, 2 for pouring over the top)
• 1-10 ounce box of frozen spinach, defrosted and drained well
• 8 ounces of feta cheese, crumbled
• 1/2 of a medium onion, chopped finely
• about 1/2 teaspoon of fresh ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon of dried dill or 2 tablespoons of fresh chopped dill
• about 2-3 tablespoons of butter or margarine, plus extra for greasing the pan

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Grease sides and bottom of  a 9 x 13 pyrex or ceramic baking dish well with butter or margarine. 

In a medium mixing bowl, gently mix the drained spinach with the crumbled feta, the chopped raw onion, 3 eggs the pepper, and the dill; set aside.  

Soak about 3 matzas in warm water in another 9 x 13 baking dish.  When the matza starts to soften, gently squeeze the water out, very carefully, so that you don’t crumble the matza.  Then place the matzas in the bottom of the pan to cover it.  Do not overlap the matza; just lay it side by side covering the bottom of the pan the way you would if you were making lasagna. 

Spread the entire spinach mixture evenly over the matza, covering the matza completely.  Then soak another 3 matzas in warm water, gently squeeze out excess water, and place the matza over the top of the spinach, covering the spinach completely.  Beat the remaining 2 eggs and pour over the matza.  Dot with butter or margarine.  Bake covered for about 30 minutes till hot and bubbly. 

Note #1:  You can prepare this in advance and refrigerate this up until the step where you pour the 2 beaten eggs over the matza.  Then when you wish to bake it, let it come to room temperature for about 30 minutes, pour the 2 beaten eggs over it, dot it with butter or margarine and bake covered, for about 30 minutes or until hot and bubbly. 

Note #2:  You may substitute 1 pound of fresh spinach for the frozen, but you will need to saute it (very briefly) in a little oil, butter or margarine, just until it wilts and turns a dark green before you mix it with the feta, egg, onion, pepper, and dill. I like to use the frozen spinach, because 1-16 ounce box of frozen spinach is equivalent to much more than 1 pound of fresh spinach.

Learn To Make This Amazing Shrimp With Feta Cheese And Pan-Roasted Tomatoes Tastes Wonderful And Looks As Pretty As A Picture!

My daughter Randi and her husband Dan are healthy eaters. They use as many organic products as possible in their cooking and they are vegetarians. They do eat seafood and fish, though. One day last summer, Randi asked me to come over and cook with her. She wanted to prepare something new and special for her husband Dan. She also wanted to make something with a Greek flavor to it, since she and Dan were gearing up for a trip to Greece. Randi and I came up with our own amazing recipe using shrimp, tomatoes, and feta cheese. It turned out fabulous, and Dan loved it. He said it was the best shrimp dish he had eaten. It is fresh tasting, and very satisfying.

• 1 pound extra large fresh or frozen raw shrimp
• 1 pint whole grape tomatoes or cherry tomatoes
• 2-4 ounces of good feta cheese, which you break into small pieces
• 5-6 garlic cloves, minced (sliced very thinly)
• 1 fresh lemon
• 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• fresh parsley (chop 1/2 cup - 1/4 cup + 1/4 cup and set aside)
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• freshly ground black pepper
• light or extra virgin olive oil, depending upon your preference
• 1/2 pound spaghetti or penne for serving (rice can be substitued)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Heat 3 tablespoons of olive oil in a large skillet. Add minced garlic cloves

and 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes, and saute over a medium flame

just for 1 minute. Add tomatoes. Sprinkle with 1 teaspoon kosher salt

and a few grinds of black pepper. Sprinkle with 1/4 cup chopped fresh

parsley. Saute until tomatoes just start to look soft and are beginning to

crack- about 3-4 minutes. Then, add shrimp and cook over a medium to

high heat for 5 minutes just until shrimp are starting to NOT look raw.

Take off stove. Pour everything in pan into an oven proof casserole dish.

Then sprinkle the 2-4 ounces of feta cheese, depending upon how much

cheese you want in the dish, on top. Bake for 10 minutes. Take out of oven

and sprinkle with another 1/4 cup of fresh chopped parsley, 2 tablespoons

of fresh lemon juice and some additional cracked pepper.

Serve over pasta or rice.

Note: I recommend that you serve this over spaghetti or rice. The presentation looks best when you place a portion of spaghetti or penne on each dinner plate, and then spoon one portion of shrimp with tomatoes and feta on top of the pasta. I do not recommend that you mix the spaghetti all together with the shrimp. If you want to serve this family style, then put all the spaghetti, penne, or rice on the bottom of a serving platter, and then carefully spoon the contents of the baking dish on top. Mixing all the ingredients together will take away from the eye appeal of the dish.