Gloriously Greekish recipes

Within the hierarchy of months and their social importance, I can’t help but feel sorry for November. There’s a lot to be excited about in food, produce-wise, but even there it feels a little like a filler month. It’s in between all the festivities – after all the pumpkins, bangers and Halloween sugar, and before the impending Christmas cookathon. Likewise, it’s busy at home and work, negotiating half-term and the (fun) chaos and disruption of the festive season.

Given this, I like to make sure we are eating well, with simple food that delivers lots of flavour, and mass appeal, whether I’m feeding my kids in the week, or extended family and friends at the weekend. Plus, I want the cooking to be as effortless as possible.

When time is limited I rely heavily on my food processor for ease and speed, and it is a key element to both of the recipes here. The chicken meatballs have become a favourite in our house, a break from the almost weekly Italian-style, tomatoey, baked meatballs that I serve alongside a pan of spaghetti and a mountain of freshly grated parmesan. These ones are lighter in flavour, and manage to feel both fresh and comforting at the same time. A nd while you may be more familiar with halloumi fried, grating it over pasta is one of its most popular uses within a Cypriot household. Pasta topped with salty, grated halloumi is a glorious thing.

The same goes for the arayes – using a food processor here means this recipe becomes a 30-minute meal, from start to finish. A Levantine street food, arayes are traditionally filled with spiced lamb or beef mince. However, in the midst of this season of heavier flavours and comforting indulgence, I love the respite and delicacy that comes from using firm white fish. I serve them with a dip that can only be described as the love child of tzatziki and tartare sauce. Add any fresh crunchy salad or slaw you like, and it is a week-night dinner that is worthy of becoming part of your regular repertoire, whatever the season.

Since its creation, this recipe has been on heavy rotation in our house, perhaps with slight variations. I might add vegetables to the orzo, depending on what I have around, baby spinach or peas are particularly good. I also mix up the soft herbs depending on what is in my fridge – flat leaf parsley and mint work well. Serves 4. Ready in 35 minutes.

chicken thighs 400g, skinless and bonelesssweet smoked paprika 1 tspmild chilli powder ½ tspcoriander 1 x 30g bunchlemon 1, unwaxedbreadcrumbs 50gegg 1, largesea salt and black pepperolive oilgarlic cloves 4, peeled and finely slicedorzo 250gchicken stock 900ml, hothalloumi 60g

Preheat your oven to 220C/gas mark 7. Roughly chop the chicken and place it in a food processor with the sweet smoked paprika, mild chilli powder and two thirds of the coriander. Blitz until everything is finely chopped.

Finely grate in the zest of the lemon and add the breadcrumbs. Crack in the egg, season generously with sea salt and pepper, then pulse until it all comes together. Remove the blade, then roll the mixture into meatballs. I like to roll them so they’re on the smaller side, almost bite-size. If you do too then you’ll end up with around 32.

Place a large casserole on a medium heat and drizzle in 3 tbsp of olive oil. Fry the meatballs for around 8-10 minutes, so they are browned on all sides, then spoon on to a plate. Add a little more olive oil and the sliced garlic. Fry for a minute or two, until lightly golden, then stir in the orzo. Give it a stir, then pour in the chicken stock and season. Squeeze in the lemon juice and bring to the boil. Add the meatballs back to the pan, so they are in one layer and transfer the casserole to the oven. Bake for 10 minutes, until the orzo is tender and has soaked up most of the lemony chicken stock.

Finely chop the remaining coriander, stir through and serve. Grate the halloumi over each portion before tucking in.

The difference between effort and end result here is vast – it’s almost hard to believe something so delicious can come together so easily. Serves 4. Ready in 30 minutes.

Greek yoghurt 300ggarlic cloves 3, peeledmint 5 sprigs, leaves picked and choppedflat-leaf parsley ½ bunchcapers 2 tbsp, smallcornichons 6lemon 1sea salt and black peppergreen chilli 1, halved and deseededspring onions 4, roughly choppedground coriander 2 tspcumin 1 ½ tspcayenne pepper ¼ tspking prawns 150g, raw and peeledfirm white fish (cod or haddock) 350gpita breads 4, halved to make 8 pocketsolive oil

Place the yoghurt in a mixing bowl. Finely grate in one of the garlic cloves and add the mint. Finely chop a few sprigs of the parsley, the capers and cornichons and add to the yoghurt, along with the juice of the lemon and a good pinch of salt and pepper. Give it a stir, taste, tweak the seasoning and leave to one side.

Place the chilli in a food processor bowl along with the remaining garlic cloves, parsley and the spring onions. Pulse until finely chopped, then add the ground coriander, cumin and cayenne pepper along with the prawns. Roughly chop the white fish, add to the bowl with a couple of tablespoons of olive oil, season and blitz everything together until smooth.

Evenly divide the blended fish between the pita breads, filling the pockets then pressing them gently so the filling spreads to the edge. Place a large frying pan on a medium-high heat and drizzle in a few tablespoons of olive oil. You’ll need to cook the arayes in batches. I start by cooking half of them cut-side down, to sear the fish and get a golden crust on them. Then, lay them out in the pan, cook for around 3 minutes on each side, pressing down on the pita gently with a spatula, until the bread is golden and crisp. Add more oil if the pan looks dry.

I like to serve them as I go, with the tartare tzatziki on the side, and an extra flourish of herbs if I am feeling fancy. Equally, feel free to preheat your oven to 160C/gas mark 3 and keep the first round of arayes warm while you cook the remaining pitas. I love them served with a shredded, lemony cabbage salad.