Greece is coming to you ...

Greece has offered us for thousands of years surprising beauties, in its history, its art and architectural treasures, but also in its dishes.

This welcoming land is the cradle of Mediterranean food which, in addition to delighting our taste buds, is full of fresh products that are good for our health.

In Greece, the products do not mix: they keep their identity!

So, let's add color and taste to our daily lives with some recipes that Autentic Hotels has selected just for you ...

Time to prepare the recipe: 25 minutes

It is a perfect Greek appetizer that's really easy to make and a hit at any get-together!

Ingredients for 4 people

- 2 cucumbers

- 2 cloves garlic

- 2 bunches of fresh mint

- 6 tablespoons of olive oil

- 2 Greek yogurts

- Pepper

- Salt

Preparation

1) We peel the cucumbers and cut them in half. With a spoon we remove the seeds and we grate them.

2) We put them in a colander and press down with our hands to wring them out as much as possible.

3) We add in a bowl the drained cucumber filaments, finely chopped mint, Greek yoghurt, crushed garlic, oil and we season with salt and pepper.

4) We mix everything together and put it in the fridge until ready to serve.

Our tip: serve chilled with Greek bread

TABLE DECORATION TIP: Cover your table with white, beige or blue linen or cotton (a tablecloth, fouta, or large striped or checkered tea towels will do perfectly), take out the old plates, cutlery and mismatched glasses of your grandmother from your closet. Arrange a few olives and a few cubes of feta on a wooden cutting board. Decorate your table with olive sprigs there there you are ...

Time to prepare the recipe: 2 hours

Time to cook on the oven: 40 minutes

Moussaka is a traditional Greek dish, gourmet, not too fatty and full of flavor! We can say that it is similar to a lasagna but we replace the pasta with slices of eggplant.

Ingredients for 4 people

- 2 eggplants

- 6 potatoes

- 500 g of ground beef

- 5 tomatoes

- 2 tablespoons of tomato paste

- 1 onion

- Olive oil

- 30 g of butter

- 1 teaspoon of cinnamon

- 1 tablespoon of honey

- A little nutmeg

- Pepper

- Salt

For the béchamel of the Greek feta moussaka:

- 30 g of butter

- 50 g of flour

- 500 g of milk

- 2 eggs

- 200 g of feta

- A little nutmeg

- Pepper

- Salt

- Olive oil

Preparation

1) Preparation of the meat sauce

- We start by slicing the onion and gently brown it in oil in a small saucepan.

- When the onion has slightly caramelized we will add the minced meat over high heat.

- While the meat is cooking, we prepare the tomatoes. We peel them and cut them into small pieces and then add them to the pan.

- We add the tomato paste, a little pepper, salt, nutmeg and cinnamon. We cook for a long time over medium heat until the sauce reduces and is full of flavor.

2) Preparation of eggplants

- We cut the eggplants into thin slices and we have to precook them. We can pre-cook them in oil, in the oven or in the steamer until they are tender.

3) Preparation of the béchamel with feta

- We heat the butter in a saucepan over low heat. When it is melted we add the flour and stir vigorously so that it is absorbed evenly.

- Then we gradually add the milk until we have a lump-free sauce. We add salt, pepper and a little nutmeg.

- We add half of the crumbled feta and we stir over low heat to melt it slightly.

- We let cool then we add the beaten eggs and we stir over very low heat.

4) Assembly of the Moussaka

- We alternate a layer of eggplant with a layer of meat sauce and we finish with the béchamel.

- We crumble the rest of the feta on top and put it in the oven at 190°C for about 40 minutes until it is golden brown.

Time to prepare the recipe : 15 minutes

Loukoumades are small traditional Greek donuts you surely already have tasted if you have been to Greece. A very easy to make recipe you will enjoy!

Ingredients for 4 people

- 200 g of flour

- 15 g baking powder

- 250 g of lukewarm water

- Cinnamon

- 4 tablespoons of honey

- 3 tablespoons of oil

Preparation

1) We start by preparing the dough. In a bowl we will mix the flour with the baking powder and add lukewarm water. Once we have a smooth dough, we will cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let the dough rest for an hour.

2) We will heat some oil in a pan and when the oil is hot we will add several tablespoons of the dough. The donuts will form on contact with the oil and as soon as they take a nice color, we will remove them from the pan with a perforated spoon.

3 We will place the donuts on a plate with a little paper towel so that we can remove the excess of oil.

4) We will place the donuts in a large dish and we will add the honey and cinnamon on the top. Our little tip: Give the dough time to rise in a warm environment to obtain the perfect texture for your loukoumades, crisp and golden on the outside and soft and airy on the inside.

Enjoy your meal!