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WARM FETA WITH TOMATO, OLIVE & PEPPER SALAD

ZESTI FETA

SERVES 10 TO 12 AS A MEZE

This supereasy and fast dish is a play on saganaki, a typical tavern dish where you melt cheese by grilling, broiling, or pan-frying. You could grill a large plank of feta and top it with this salad, but since this is a meze, I don’t want anyone to have to use a fork.

1 small Spanish or sweet onion, thickly sliced

Kosher salt and cracked black pepper

9 caperberries, halved lengthwise

2 tablespoons capers

9 cherry or grape tomatoes, halved

9 cracked green olives, pitted and torn

9 Kalamata olives, pitted and torn

1 small red onion, roughly chopped

2 fire-roasted red bell peppers, home-roasted (page 270) or store-bought, roughly chopped

9 Greek sardines or white anchovies (optional), diced

9 small, picked sprigs dill

9 small, picked sprigs parsley

9 leaves fresh basil

to ½ cup Red Wine–Black Pepper Vinaigrette (page 273) or 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil plus 1½ tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1 teaspoon dry Greek oregano

12 ounces feta cheese, crumbled

3 warmed or toasted pita breads, cut into wedges

Brush the onion slices with a little olive oil and season with kosher salt and pepper. On a hot grill pan or in a cast-iron skillet, grill the onion until tender and slightly char-marked. Separate into rings.

In a large bowl, combine the grilled onion, caperberries, capers, tomatoes, olives, red onion, roasted peppers, sardines or anchovies (optional), dill, parsley, and basil. Drizzle with the vinaigrette, season with kosher salt and pepper, sprinkle with oregano, and toss the salad until evenly coated.

Scatter the feta evenly over the base of an ovenproof baking dish or gratin. Warm the feta until slightly softened, 30 seconds in a microwave, or under a broiler for 3 minutes. Top with the salad and serve with the pita wedges. Scoop feta and salad onto a wedge with a knife and eat out of hand.

Grill a couple of sirloin steaks and when warming them up after the resting period (page 67), scatter with some crumbled feta. Then make the salad as above and pile it on top of the steak.

Grill a pounded, seasoned chicken breast and top it with feta, broil to soften—but not melt—the feta, and top with this salad.

FIGS STUFFED WITH FETA WRAPPED WITH PASTOURMA

SIKA YEMISTA ME FETA TYLIGMENA SE PASTOURMA

MAKES 20 TO 30 MOUTHFULS

I love this incredibly easy meze because you get a variety of great flavors in one mouthful: barnyard/earthy (depending on the cheese), salty, sweet. Wrap the figs the night before if you like. Store in a covered container and bring back to room temperature before serving raw or searing as below. If you can find very moist, dark purple dried figs, they can be substituted for fresh figs. Pastourma is a heavily spiced version of bresaola, with a thick spice layer visible on the outside.

10 ripe black Mission figs

3 to 4 ounces feta cheese, in a block

Leaves only from 2 small, picked sprigs thyme

Cracked black pepper

10 thin slices of pastourma or bresaola

Halve the figs through the stem (or if you find very large figs, quarter them). Scoop up about 1 teaspoon of the feta and place in the center of the cut side; the feta should be just big enough to cover the pink part of the fig. Push a few small leaves of thyme into the cheese and grind a little pepper over the top.

Halve the pastourma or bresaola slices crosswise. Place a stuffed fig on one short end and wrap up snugly. Prepare the remaining figs in the same way.

Serve the figs as is, or grill or sauté them briefly to crisp the meat and release the woodsy flavor of the thyme. To grill: lightly brush the outside of each wrapped fig with a little olive oil and place on a hot charcoal or gas grill for 30 to 45 seconds, turning with tongs, just to char the meat slightly. To sauté: in a hot pan with a tablespoon of olive oil, sear the figs just until the meat is slightly golden and crisped in a few places.

For an earthy, woodsy flavor, substitute