Greek Mount Pelion Bell Pepper and Onion Pie

As many of you know, my husband and I will be going to Greece on our honeymoon this summer and I’ve been trying out various Greek recipes in the cookbook Vefa’s Kitchen. I recently made Mount Pelion Bell Pepper and Onion Pie, which was easy and relatively quick to make.

I say “relatively” because filo dough is a bit needy of an ingredient. It can easily dry out as it is waiting for you to finish a layer. According to some recipes I’ve read, this can be resolved by lightly covering the remaining dough with a (clean) dishtowel. No matter how carefully I extract each individual layer, a few of them tear before I get them on the pie. Since there are so many layers cooked together, this doesn’t seem to be a problem, even if it feels a bit stressful in the moment. My recommendation is to simply forget about it and finish the recipe. It will taste good no matter what it looks like.

Like yesterday’s rice stuffed grape leaves, I bought the filo dough at Jerusalem International Market (1713 Plymouth Rd, Ann Arbor, MI 48105; 734-668-7773.) They have great prices and a lovely selection of items that cost a fortune in gourmet shops.

This cheesy, soft on the inside and crunchy on the outside pie was delicious! There’s only one change we would recommend. The recipe called for the peppers to be thinly sliced. My husband and I both thought that we would have preferred the peppers diced, instead.

Some of the Greek pie recipes I’ve seen call for brushed butter between each filo sheet. This recipe called for brushed olive oil, which is of course a healthier option. Perhaps I’ll make this substitution for other pies.

You can purchase the cookbook Vefa’s Kitchen on Amazon.

Rice Stuffed Grape Leaves

The Greek Cookbook Vefa’s Kitchen has not let me down. I recently made Stuffed Grape Leaves and they were delicious, even if the project took much longer than I’d anticipated.

The ingredients were easy to find. I bought the grape leaves, quite inexpensively compared to Whole Foods costs, at Jerusalem International Market (1713 Plymouth Rd, Ann Arbor, MI 48105; 734-668-7773.) This also happens to be where I regularly buy olive oil in the huge jug that you can see in the picture above. (Yes, we go through quite a lot of olive oil.)

Ok, so perhaps my husband rightfully noticed that I made too much when he joked, “Whose wedding are we catering this weekend?”

You can purchase the cookbook Vefa’s Kitchen on Amazon.

Greek Food Resources

My husband and I are taking our honeymoon in Greece this summer. To prepare, we’ve been learning about the language, history, culture, myths and food.

My favorite Greek cooking blog Peter Minaki’s Kalofagas, which means "gourmet" in Greek. He offers regular and numerous recipes that look and sound delicious. I can’t wait to try the recipe for Pasta Shells Stuffed with Roasted Red Peppers and Feta.

The cookbook Vefa’s Kitchen has also been helpful.

What’s your favorite Greek food resource?