Feta Herb Crust Food

CRUSTY BAKED POTATOES WITH WHIPPED FETA

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Line a sheet pan with aluminum foil.
• Place the rosemary, thyme, lemon zest, and fleur de sel in the bowl of a mini food processor and pulse 10 to 12 times, until finely chopped but not puréed. Spread the mixture in a shallow bowl or plate.
• Scrub the potatoes, dry them well, and pierce them all over with the tines of a fork. Place the potatoes on the prepared sheet pan and rub them all over with olive oil. Roll each potato in the salt and herb mixture and put them back on the sheet pan. Bake for 60 to 75 minutes, until tender. Slit the top of each potato, squeeze the ends together to open the potato, and top with a generous scoop of whipped feta. Sprinkle with chives and serve hot with extra whipped feta on the side.
• Place the feta and cream cheese in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the steel blade and pulse until the cheeses are mixed. Add the olive oil, lemon juice, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper and process until smooth. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

BAKED HERB FETA CHEESE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 180C or 350F degrees.
• Place the feta on a 30cm piece of foil or 12inches square.
• Mix together the freshly chopped herbs and press on to the sides of the feta.
• Drizzle with the oil and season to taste with cracked black pepper.
• Gently fold the sides and ends of the foil over to make a parcel.
• Place on a baking tray and bake for 10-15 minutes until the feta is soft.
• Drain any excess liquid before serving and serve either hot or cold chopped in salads, with bread or as part of a cheese platter.

FETA WITH OLIVE OIL AND HERBS

Steps:

• Gather the ingredients.
• Place feta on a medium-sized plate or serving platter. Drizzle olive oil over the top.
• Sprinkle the herbs and red pepper flakes on the feta.
• If you use fresh herbs, you can garnish the plate with leftover sprigs of herbs. Serve with a sliced baguette or crackers.

FETA HERB CRUST

Steps:

• Mix ingredients together.
• Add to your basic pie crust!

SUMMER HERB & FETA PIES

Steps:

• Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Remove any thick stalks from the watercress, then chop the rest and put in a food processor with the herbs and spring onions. Blitz for a few secs, then add the eggs, nutmeg and some seasoning, and blitz again briefly - you don't want too fine a chop. Tip the mixture into a bowl and stir in the feta and artichokes.
• Melt the butter and unwrap the filo sheets. Cut them into 12-13cm squares through the layers - you may have too much pastry but the leftovers can be re-wrapped and saved for another recipe . Stack 4 squares of pastry on top of each other, brushing lightly with butter as you go, offsetting each square to get a star shape all round the edge. Continue until you have 8 stacks.
• Press each stack into a deep-hole muffin tin and fill with the feta mixture. Fold over the pastry to enclose the filling, pinching it together. Brush the tops with the remaining butter and sprinkle with Parmesan. Bake for 25 mins until the pastry is golden and crisp. Leave to cool for a few mins, then remove the tins and cool completely on a wire rack. Pack into a plastic container to take to the picnic and serve with a tomato salad, if you like.

FETA-CRUSTED LAMB WITH RICH TOMATO SAUCE

Steps:

• Marinate the lamb first. Put the racks into a non-metallic dish and mix the thyme, oil, lemon zest, garlic and half the oregano in a bowl. Rub this all over the lamb, then leave to marinate for at least 30 mins or up to 24 hrs. It's important that you cook the lamb from room temperature rather than fridge cold, so if you're cooking within 1 hr or so, leave it out of the fridge.
• For the sauce, finely chop the parsley stalks. Heat a large ovenproof frying pan or wide casserole, then add 1 tbsp olive oil. Add the garlic and the stalks, then soften for 1 min. Add the tomatoes and remaining oregano, then simmer for 5 mins until saucy, popping the cherry tomatoes with your wooden spoon to release all the juices and seeds. Chop the parsley leaves roughly and add half to the pan. Heat oven to 230C/fan 210C/ gas 8. Make the crust by mixing the remaining parsley leaves, feta, zest, oregano and breadcrumbs in a bowl.
• When you're ready to cook the lamb, leave most of the tasty marinade on the meat, season it well with salt and freshly ground pepper, then press the crust onto one side of each piece. Sit the racks in the sauce, with the crust-side facing upwards. Strew the thyme sprigs from the marinade over the lamb and into the sauce, then drizzle everything with a little extra virgin olive oil. Roast the lamb in the sauce, uncovered, for 20 mins (for pink and juicy meat) until the crust is golden and the sauce thickened. Leave to rest for 10 mins, loosely covered, so that the crust doesn't go soggy, then carve the lamb between each bone to make cutlets. Serve the crusted cutlets with spoonfuls of the intense, roasted-down tomato sauce, and the Easy buttered onion pilaf and Lemony greens (recipes below). Garnish with thyme.