Whenever a new development chef joins the Ottolenghi test kitchen team, they shine a fresh light on the places they’ve been, the people they’ve cooked with and the ingredients they’ve grown up on. So, with Angelos Angelides, as well as that brilliant alliterative name, we get the culinary combinations and passions from his Cypriot-Serbian heritage, his time in Hong Kong, and his experiences in the restaurant kitchens of Brat, Bao and Honey & Co in London. I suspected Angelos was a keeper the moment I saw one of his signature dishes – deep-fried burrata with spiced aubergine and leek oil – and my suspicions were confirmed after witnessing quite how much fried halloumi he could fit into a single sandwich. Both of today’s recipes are all Angelos, and there’s no fried cheese involved … possibly because it’s all gone.
Bean and feta puff (pictured top)
Gigantes plaki sto fourno, or giant beans in the oven, is a traditional Greek-Cypriot dish featuring large white beans baked slowly in a rich tomato sauce. They’re typically served with salty feta and bread, but here we pay tribute to the original by bringing together all the meal’s various elements into an all-in-one dish. Serve with a leafy green salad and a good dollop of greek yoghurt.
Prep 10 min
Cook 35 min
Serves 4
1 sheet all-butter puff pastry (325g)
400g tin butter beans, drained and rinsed
1 red onion, peeled and thinly sliced (160g)
2 tbsp tomato paste
2 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
1 tsp dried oregano
¼ tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp thyme leaves
4 small plum tomatoes (200g), quartered
50ml olive oil
Fine sea salt and black pepper
200g feta
1 tsp fresh oregano leaves
1 tbsp lemon juice
2 tbsp runny honey
Heat the oven to 220C (200C fan)/425F/gas 7. Lay the sheet of puff pastry on an oven tray lined with baking paper; if it’s slightly too wide or long to fit neatly, fold in the sides a little. Bake for 10 minutes, then remove.
While the pastry is baking, put the butter beans, onion, tomato paste, garlic, dried oregano, cinnamon, thyme, tomatoes, three tablespoons of olive oil, a half-teaspoon of salt and a few twists of black pepper in a large bowl, then toss to combine.
Once the pastry is out of the oven, flip it over and, if it has inflated, gently press it down flat. Spoon the bean mix evenly over the pastry, then return to the oven for a further 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, roughly crumble the feta into small pieces, then mix with the fresh oregano and remaining teaspoon of olive oil. When its 10 minutes are up, take the tray out of the oven, sprinkle the feta evenly over the top, and return to the oven for a final 15 minutes, or until the feta is just starting to brown.
Take out of the oven, drizzle over the lemon juice and honey, cut into four large slices and serve.
Brown butter and orange galaktoboureko
If you like filo and you like custard tarts, you are going to love this Greek take on custard pie. Browning the butter and adding a splash of vinegar to the syrup isn’t at all traditional, but it does make the whole thing even more moreish, and offsets the sweetness a little. This is best served after it’s had a rest, so all the flavours meld together and the custard sets.
Prep 30 min
Cook 45 min
Rest 2 hr
Makes 9
For the syrup
75g caster sugar
25g runny honey
½ tsp flaked sea salt
4 tsp moscatel vinegar, or white-wine vinegar
1 orange – 4 wide strips of zest pared off with a peeler, then finely sliced, to get 2 tsp (save the rest of the orange for eating)
2 tsp fresh thyme leaves
1 tsp orange blossom water (optional)
To assemble
230g unsalted butter
270g filo pastry
1 tbsp icing sugar, to dust
For the semolina custard
250ml whole milk
250ml double cream
150g caster sugar, or granulated sugar
1 cinnamon stick
1 tsp vanilla extract
90g fine semolina
20g unsalted butter
1 whole egg plus 1 egg yolk, beaten
Put all the ingredients for the syrup in a small saucepan, add 100ml water and bring to a boil. Take off the heat, whisk to dissolve the sugar and salt, then leave to cool completely.
Melt 230g butter in a small saucepan on a medium-high heat and cook for seven to eight minutes, swirling the pan occasionally, until it smells nutty and turns a deep brown. Take off the heat, strain into a heatproof bowl through a fine, heatproof sieve lined with kitchen paper, then leave to cool.
Put all the ingredients for the custard except the butter and eggs in a medium saucepan on a medium heat, and whisk constantly for six to eight minutes, until the mix thickens to a porridge consistency. Take off the heat, whisk in the 20g unsalted butter, then leave to cool slightly. Whisk in the beaten egg mix a few tablespoons at a time, to avoid it curdling.
Heat the oven to 200C (180C fan)/390F/gas 6. Brush the base and sides of a 20cm square baking tray with the browned butter. Working quickly, take one sheet of filo (cover the rest with a damp tea towel so they don’t dry out), lay it over the base of the tray and fold in any overhang so the pastry fits the base neatly. Brush with browned butter, then repeat until you’ve used up half the filo sheets.
Top the filo in the tray with the custard filling (remove and discard the cinnamon first), and spread it out evenly and smoothly. Top the custard with the rest of the filo in layers as before, folding in the overhang and brushing each new layer with butter.
With a small serrated knife, carefully score the top layers of the pie, in so doing dividing it into nine even squares. Pour any remaining browned butter evenly over the top of the pie, then transfer it to the middle shelf of the oven and bake for 40-45 minutes, until golden brown on top.
Take the pie out of the oven, and immediately pour all but two tablespoons of the cold syrup evenly over the top. Leave to sit for a couple of hours to cool to room temperature, during which time the custard will set completely.
Dust with icing sugar to coat, drizzle over the reserved syrup, then cut along the score marks and serve.