Cooking can be quite enjoyable. It’s a time to experiment in the kitchen and try your hand at a new recipe or recipes. Whether or not they come out as a success is anyone’s guess, but it can still be a lot of fun to give it a try.
Today, we’re going to focus on foods from the Meditteranean cuisine. Foods of this cuisine come from many places around the sea, including France, Italian, Spanish, Greece, Turkey, and Egyptian.
The cuisine is not to be confused with the Meditteranean diet, however. Cuisine refers to all the foods that are eaten in the area, while the diet is quite specific about which foods can and cannot be eaten. While the two overlap in many areas, they still have their differences. Many dishes still have you eating well!
Below, we’re going to highlight five delicious dishes that you can try this weekend. Hopefully, they turn out great!
Potato Omelet from Spain
Officially called tortilla española, this dish is one of the most popular in Spain and requires just six ingredients: salt, pepper, potatoes, onions, eggs, and olive oil. While many forward-thinking chefs sometimes add other ingredients, this is the most basic of all.
First, heat a pan and put olive oil in. Leave it to simmer. Cut up the potatoes into small chunks and put them aside. Use six eggs and crack them in the pan before adding your potatoes.
Chopped onions are optional and usually spark a huge debate amongst Spaniards themselves, so add them if you want.
Cook the potatoes and eggs on one side until it’s golden brown. Now comes the hard part. You’ll need to take a plate and put it on top of the pan, flip the pan, and then put the underside of the tortilla back into the pan. It’s best to watch a video about how it’s done.
Flipping the pan is the hardest part and separates the novices from the experts.
Eggplant Parmesan from Italy
It’s hard to talk about Meditteranean cuisine with mentioning Italy. But instead of regular pasta, we’re going to talk about how to make melanzane alla parmigiana. Similar to the potato omelet, this dish calls for just a few ingredients.
You’ll need a cup of tomato sauce, two eggplants, six ounces of prosciutto, olive oil, one cup of parmesan cheese, and salt and pepper.
Start by simmering your tomato sauce and cutting off the edges of the eggplant and then cut them into slices. Fry them on both sides in your pan with olive oil until golden.
Place slices of eggplant at the bottom of a baking dish and cover them with ham, tomato sauce, and parmesan cheese. You can add salt and pepper for a little seasoning as well. Keep repeating until all of your eggplant slices have been used.
Bake the eggplant for one hour at 325 degrees and serve when hot. Even though this recipe may take a while to prepare, it’s incredibly easy to make and serve!
Falafel from Egypt
Falafel offers plenty of options once completed. You can put it in a wrap, mix it with other meats, or even make it into a sandwich.
For falafel, you’re going to need more ingredients than our past dishes. Make sure you have two cups of dried chickpeas, one cup of fresh parsley leaves, ¾ cup of cilantro leaves, one onion, 7-8 garlic cloves, and half a cup of fresh dill. For seasoning, scour your cabinet to find black pepper, cumin, coriander, cayenne pepper, and baking powder.
The recipe also does take a day for adequate preparation. The day before, put your chickpeas and baking soda in a bowl filled with water. Let them soak for 16 hours. After, mix the chickpeas with your herbs, onions, garlic, and spices.
Once the mixture is completed, leave in the fridge for one hour until its ready to cook. Add sesame seeds and baking powder the next day before cooking.
Fill your pan up with at least three inches of oil before scooping spoonfuls of the falafel to fry. Each spoonful will take about three minutes to complete, so fry them in batches if possible. Make sure and drain them appropriately before serving.
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