Parmesan Eggs

Tired of the same plain boring eggs? Spinkle some parmesan and parsley on top of the eggs and serve with low sodium turkey bacon.

Chicken Salad with a twist

Tired of the usual mixed green setup for a salad? Try this one!

Ingredients
1 cup cooked chicken breast, cubed
1-2 red or orange bell peppers roughly chopped
4 radishes, roughly chopped
Handful of fresh basil, chopped
Any dressing that you want

Toss everything together and dress with your favourite dressing!

Pesce al cartoccio (Baked Fish in wine)

Ingredients

4 fillets of any fish that you like
2 onions sliced
5 cloves garlic
1 cup cherry tomatoes
10 olives
2 Table Spoons of Capers
1.5 cups white wine
Handful of fresh chopped basil
Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.

Layer a deep baking pan with foil and spread the sliced onions at the bottom. Pour the 1.5 cups of white wine on top of the onions and place the fish on top of the onions and top with garlic, tomatoes, olives, capers and basil. Drizzle with some olive oil, salt and pepper.

Bake for about 30 minutes, opening the foil on top to allow the fish to brown a little bit.

This recipe is very easy to make as you can use frozen fish fillets too without defrosting them first. Just pop everything in the oven and enjoy the fusion of Mediterranean aromas that come out from this dish.

Serve with sauteed veggies on the side or a Caprese salad, using Part-Skim mozzarella between slices of plump red tomatoes and fresh basil leaves.

Ham and Gbejna Salad

Ingredients

Baby Spinach Leaves
Mixed Greens
Yellow Bell Pepper
1/2 Cucumber
4 Radishes
1 or 2 Gbejna
Handful of chopped ham
Balsamic Vinaigrette

Toss everything together and dress with the vinaigrette. The crispness of the radishes and the freshness of the cucumber go well with the acidic flavor of the gbejna. You can substitute gbejna for goat's cheese or feta, but the taste won't be the same.

Hobz biz-zejt Salad (without the bread)

Ingredients

Baby Spinach (or any mixed greens)
6 Cherry Tomatoes
1 orange/yellow/red bell pepper (or Giardiniera)
1 can of Tuna in brine
1 Gbejna
6 olives
1 tbl Capers
Handful of fresh chopped basil (optional)
1/2 diced onion

Toss everything together and dress with Balsamic Vinegar and 1tsp olive oil.

This salad is super easy to make and satisfies that "hobz biz-zejt" craving. Of course, there is nothing that can replace the combination of the above ingredients stuffed in a ftira, but trust me, its the next best thing!

Ftira (Maltese Flat Bread)

Follow the recipe for Maltese bread 

Divide the dough into 3-4 pieces, depending on how big you want your ftiras to be. Without kneading, gently open up dough into a flat circle and let rest for about 10 minutes.

After 10 minutes continue to expand the dough gently without kneading. Let rest for another 10-15 minutes, always covered in cling film otherwise the top will dry out.

With these resting periods, you will notice that after each rest, you can stretch out the dough a little further. Cut a hole in the middle, dust with some flour, place on a floured peel and pop on pizza stone in a 450 oven for about 15-20 mins.

End Result :-)

*This bread has no preservatives in it therefore it will go stale in a matter of hours. When I bake ftiras, I usually consume one right after it cools down and freeze the rest wrapped tightly in a freezer ziplock bag. To warm up, preheat over to 450 degrees, brush the top with some water and pop in the over for 5-10 minutes and the bread will be as good as new! 

Pulpetti tal-corned beef (Corned Beef Patties)

Ingredients

2 large boiled potatoes
1 large can corned beef
2 eggs
4oz Kefalotiri Grated Cheese (or grated parmesan)
4 cloves garlic, minced
handful of chopped parsley
1 tbl Curry Powder
Flour (as needed to thicken mixture)
Salt and Pepper.


Method,

Mash the potatoes up with a fork but do not cream. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix well.

Shape into pulpetti (patties) and fry in vegetable oil, 3-4 at a time. You might need to change the oil if cooking a large batch.They are not easy to flip as they will break easily so extra caution is advised! 

Serve with HP Sauce and crusty Maltese bread!