Crete - Vegetarian Pistatsio

 I am going to try to make a Greek dish about once a week. Not big on cooking but I have always loved Greek food so want to get more comfortable with cooking it.

Today it is about 14 degrees, cloudy and windy, so the washing had to be dried inside. Rick called it "our fort" and later, asked if we were going to sleep in it, like the kids always want to.

He went for a long walk - around the Fortress, past the Venetian harbour and out along the beach, while I set myself up to, finally, paint.

Quick and loose, Pomegranate left on the tree, from a photo I took at the house near Sitia.

It took us a few days of grocery shopping to finally amass the required ingredients.

First Step-

Fry onions, red pepper, broccoli, garlic, mushrooms until tender (already I am off recipe and just using what I have got). Add lentils, can of plum tomatoes, oregano, cinnamon, bay leaves and vegetable broth and simmer for about 40 minutes. Add tomato paste and a bit more cinnamon and cook a little longer to thicken.

Step 2 - cook macaroni.

Step 3 -  make Bechemal Sauce. I always find this intimidating. Nicky said it was just because it has a french name. In reality it is just a cream sauce with an egg yolk and cheese added in at the end. It did turn out silky smooth and a lovely colour. No whisk here so I stirred like crazy with a spoon.

Step 4 - layer the pasta, then the "meat sauce" then the Bechemal.

Step 5 - Bake at 350 for 40 minutes until the top is brown and bubbly.

We had to buy containers as the apartment didn't come with anything we could make it in.

It was delicious and

there were no leftovers, we went back for seconds and finished one container. One went in the frig for another night and the other went in the freezer.

I don't mess (too much) with a recipe the first time I make it. Next time:-

I would use canned lentils or let them cook longer

I would add some red wine to the "meat sauce" to give it a bit more richness.

I bought the bottle on the right at Lidls (1.5 litres for 3.50 Euro) quite palatable. Rick bought the wine on the left at our closest grocery store because he was compelled to buy a wine that came in a plastic bottle. Same price, way "younger", likely to become our cooking wine.

 I would decrease the pasta level and increase the Bechemal level.