Kolokithakia Me Feta Zucchini With Feta Food

KOLOKITHAKIA ME FETA (ZUCCHINI WITH FETA)

Steps:

• Heat oven to 400 degrees.
• Slice zucchini lengthwise into 1/2" thick slices. Sprinkle with salt, place in a colander and let stand until water drains, approximately 2 hours.
• Rinse zucchini and squeeze dry with paper towels.
• Coat each zucchini slice with flour.
• Place a layer of zucchini in a 9" square greased baking pan.
• Sprinkle with 1/3 of the Parmesan, mint and feta.
• Repeat layers of zucchini, cheeses and mint but save enough zucchini for a top layer.
• Sprinkle mozzarella over all.
• Top with a layer of zucchini.
• Pour oil over all.
• Bake for 45 minutes or until the zucchini is tender.
• Cool for 25-30 minutes. Cut into squares.
• Serve hot or at room temperature.

SAUTEED ZUCCHINI WITH FETA

Steps:

• In a 12-inch skillet, heat the oil on low. Slowly saute the zucchini and garlic, with a little salt, until golden and slightly caramelized, about 20 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Mix in parsley or basil, cilantro and feta.

ZUCCHINI AND FETA APPETIZER

Steps:

• Boil a large pot of salted water (not the dead sea, but put in a couple of TBSP of salt).
• Cut the zucchini in half, lengthwise. Use a teaspoon to scrape out the seeds, to form a little canoe, if you will. Blanche the halves in the boiling water for a minute, remove and let drain on a paper towel for a few minutes.
• Pre-heat your broiler/grill on high.
• Fill each "canoe" with feta cheese (you don't have to use the whole cup up, but put a good amount in each) and broil for a couple of minutes. When the cheese has turned a little brown in spots, remove from the broiler.
• Drizzle each with a TBSP of olive oil, a sprinkle of pepper and salt if you like, and serve with crusty bread (I like ciabatta, rubbed with garlic and a little olive oil.).

KOLOKYTHAKIA TIGANITA - GREEK BATTERED FRIED ZUCCHINI / COURGETT

Steps:

• Prepare zucchini: Cut zucchini slices in half if they are long. Slices measuring about 3 inches long work best.
• Put slices in a bowl, salt, and let sit 20 minutes. Pour off liquid before putting in batter.
• Make the batter: Pour the soda into a bowl, and stir in flour and salt slowly, using a whisk or fork to mix.
• Fry: Bring oil to high heat.Coat zucchini in the batter, use a fork to place pieces in oil and fry 5-6 minutes, until golden on both sides and batter puffs up. Drain on absorbent paper toweling just long enough to remove excess oil.
• Serve hot. (Serves 4 as a side dish, 6-8 as an appetizer/meze.).

BAKED ZUCCHINI WITH RICE AND FETA

Steps:

• Cook rice according to dircetion on package - without salt and oil. Heat oven to 375 degrees. In a large bowl combined cooked rice and 1/2 cup feta cheese; mix well. Coat a 10 inch quiche dish or pie plate with cooking spray.
• Press the rice mixture into the sides and bottom of dish. Steam zucchini, covered, 5 minutes. Press zucchini gently between paper towels until barely moist. In a medium bowl, combine zucchini, remaining 1/2 cup feta and salt; mix. Spoon mixture evenly over rice. In a small bowl; combine mint, nutmeg and eggs and mix well with a fork or whisk. Pour over zucchini mixture.
• Bake for 40 minutes or until the top is golden brown. Cut into wedges and serve.

GREEK STUFFED ZUCCHINI (KOLOKITHAKIA YEMISTA AVGOLEMONO)

Steps:

• Cut zucchini into 1/2s or 1/3s, cored on one end (the other end is left intact) and remove filing carefully with corer so that a not-too-thick wall of zucchini remains to contain the filling, keep 1/2 the zucchini flesh removed from the coring, minced (not the shells- but the actual part of the zucchini that was removed, the other half makes a lovely omelette with a bit of parmesan for another meal!).
• You can prepare your zucchini from the previous day and keep, wrapped, in the refrigerator- this actually makes a lot less work on the day of preparation as it's the coring of the zucchini that takes up the most time.
• Mix the meats, onion, garlic, rice, parsley and zucchini in a bowl and season to taste with salt and pepper.
• Stuff this mixture into the opening of the one end of each zucchini piece and make sure the filling goes all the way into the vegetable.
• Level opening neatly so that no filling comes out.
• Layer the filled zucchini pieces in a big pot and add enough boiling water to just cover.
• Put in the stock cubes and the butter and cover.
• Simmer for 45 minutes to 1 hour (knife tip should slip into a piece easily), and take off heat.
• Carefully remove the zucchini pieces with a slotted spoon and place on a reheatable serving dish.
• Strain the cooking liquid left in the pot to remove any pieces of zucchini or grains of rice that may be floating around.
• In a large bowl, whisk the eggs with the cornstarch and lemon juice (add the juice of 1 lemon at this point).
• Slowly ladle in (literally the thinnest of streams) your hot cooking liquid, whisking the eggs all the while so they don't curdle.
• Keep doing this till nearly all the cooking liquid has been used and then pour your egg mixture and any cooking liquid left back into the pot and heat on a low flame until the sauce has thickened.
• Taste, if it needs more lemon, add up to 1/2 more.
• This is what is called an'Avgolemono Sauce' (Egg-lemon Sauce)- it is delicious.
• When ready to serve, put 2-3 piping hot pieces of the stuffed zucchini on each plate and nap with the sauce.
• Serve with feta cheese on the side (you won't believe how good a nibble of feta tastes with each bite of this!), good, crusty bread (you want to get all the sauce), and wine.