Mediterranean Recipes
262 recipes found

Seared and Roasted Brussels Sprouts With Red Pepper and Mint Gremolata
Searing brussels sprouts in a hot cast iron pan was a revelation to me when I first began preparing them this way a few years ago. In this version, adapted from Momofuku’s recipe for Roasted Brussels Sprouts With Fish Sauce Vinaigrette, as featured in Food52’s upcoming book “Genius Recipes,” I achieve the sear on the cut surface of the sprouts in the pan, finish them in a hot oven, then return them to the frying pan, where in the meantime I have cooked a sweet red pepper. The combo is

Brandade Of White Beans With Artichokes And Truffle Vinaigrette

Chicken Tagine With Eggplant and Olives
Priorat, near the Mediterranean coast of Spain and a stone’s throw from Barcelona, produces wines with dark fruit flavors, spice, bold complexity and ample alcohol. To compete with reds like these, the food alongside must take no prisoners.It would have been simple enough to sear some rib-eyes, lamb chops or lusty sausages. But I looked across the Mediterranean to North Africa and came up with a tagine in which chicken is coated with robust spices and becomes more than mere white noise. Eggplant and olives round out the dish, and a splash of sherry vinegar brightens the sauce.If you have yet to equip your kitchen with a genuine terra-cotta tagine, you can cook the dish in a covered sauté pan or a fancy-pants tagine of enameled cast iron.

Lamb Tagine With Baby Artichokes And Mint

Escabeche With Summer Vegetables

Whole Wheat Sesame Rings (Simit)
These look like bagels with bigger holes, but the bread is denser and defined by the thick coating of sesame seeds that gives them their delicious flavor. I first encountered simit in Athens, then in Egypt, where they are a popular street food, as they are in Turkey. In the past I have dipped the rings into beaten egg before coating with sesame seeds. But I’ve been looking at various recipes lately and see that many Turkish bakers dip their rings into grape or pomegranate molasses diffused with water before coating. I like this method because it enhances the browning effect during baking and leaves a slightly sweet flavor on the surface of the breads. Turkish bakers also sometimes add a ground mahlab (sour cherry kernels) to their dough for added flavor. One way to ensure that most of the sesame seeds will continue to adhere to the breads after they cool is to brush with egg white when you rotate the pans after 20 minutes of baking. The version I am giving you is made with a combination of semolina, all-purpose and (mostly) whole wheat flour, which is totally inauthentic but nevertheless, delicious. If you want a less dense bread, use half unbleached all purpose flour.

Chicken Breast Saltimbocca

Fig Sorbet
I love fig ice cream, so I decided to try sorbet, and although I wasn’t crazy about the color, I couldn’t resist the flavor. Make sure to use fully ripe, sweet figs for this. My favorite way to make this is with red wine.

Quinoa and Lentil Pilaf

Lamb and Fig Skewers With Honey and Rosemary
This easy recipe bridges that strange period of cooking that falls at the end of summer, when there's a chill in the air, and grilling might require a sweater instead of a cold beer. Make sure your figs are very ripe, and allow the lamb several hours to marinate in the fridge.

Stuffed Collard Greens
Collard greens are great leaves to stuff. They remind me a bit of grape leaves, though they don’t need to be brined before you stuff them. Just remove the stems, blanch them, fill and cook like cabbage leaves. I used medium-grain Cal-Rose rice that I bought at my local Iranian market for these; this type of rice is perfect for stuffing grape leaves and vegetables, the package told me, because it doesn’t swell when cooking and won’t break the leaf.

Eggplant Ragout

Crunchy Calamari Salad

Sautéed Spicy Carrots With Black Quinoa
This is inspired by a classic Moroccan spiced cooked carrot salad (Ommok Houriya is one variation of the transliteration). Carrots and cumin have long been a favorite combination of mine; added to this mix is fresh green chile and crushed coriander. I finish this off with a sprinkling of black quinoa and fresh mint (cilantro would also be good). If on the off-chance you can find a selection of multicolored carrots – yellow, purple, and orange – the dish will be all the more beautiful, but it is pretty enough with regular orange carrots. Cook them long enough to bring out the sweetness, which means longer than crisp-tender. They should be soft, but not mushy.

Red Pepper-Eggplant Ajvar
Ajvar is a lush, piquant spread based on roasted red peppers and olive oil. It has the same kind of tangy sweetness that ketchup adds to a burger.

Roasted Vegetable Sandwich With Parsley Arugula Salad

Red Pepper Dip With Walnuts And Pomegranate
This dish, called muhammara, is a beautiful coarse purée of roasted red peppers, chilies, walnuts, garlic and pomegranate molasses.

Stuffed Swiss Chard

Sonia’s Phyllo and Feta Torte With Dill and Nutmeg
Here is a recipe for a torte, appropriate for a springtime lunch, that looks daunting, but really is not. The only challenge is finding the right Greek feta, by which we mean something not too salty but not too mild. Think of the layering of the phyllo sheets as a meditative exercise, clearing the clutter of the week and preparing you for something delicious. Gild it with Greek honey for a welcome touch of sweetness.

Marinated Green Olives

Mediterranean Lamb Shanks

Chicken Roasted With Fennel And Green Olives

Lamb With Vegetables and Yogurt Sauce in a Pita
