Here in Canada, we don’t have the wealth of wild greens available to us in the countryside but there are many alternatives and they are to be found at your local farmer’s market or even supermarket!

A favourite here in Canada and the US has to be rapini, a bitter green with thick stalks, broad leaves and a hint of a look much like broccolini. Some call rapini cimi di rapa or broccoli raab. Anyway you like to call it, we have the Italians who settled in California near the turn of the 20th century for bringing this delicious green to North America.

Rapini is the base ingredient for this delicious pizza I made yesterday. It’s a source of vitamins A and C, high in iron and calcium. The other ingredient in this pizza is Italian sausage meat, another product widely available now in your local supermarket or favourite butcher’s shop. The great thing about thus pizza is that it has the decadence of the sausage, the health benefits from the rapini and the look, the contrast in colour makes it a beauty too!

Next time it’s pizza night, try it with rapini and Italian sausage…it could become your family’s new fave.

Pizza With Rapini & Italian Sausage

(serves 4)

1/2 pizza dough recipe

approx. 1 cup of jarred tomato pasata (sauce)

1 clove of garlic, minced

1/4 teaspoon ground pepper

1 teaspoon dried oregano

2 cups grated mozzarella cheese

approx. 3 cups of rapini

3 cloves of  garlic, smashed

1 spicy Italian sausage

Extras

all-purpose flour

corn meal

pizza paddle

pizza stone

pizza cutter

1. To make the dough, add the water, olive oil, sugar, yeast into a medium size bowl and allow the yeast about 5-6 minutes to activate. Now add the salt and flour and knead with your hands until a smooth ball of dough is formed (not too sticky). Drizzle with olive oil and cover with plastic wrap. Place in a warm spot in your kitchen and allow to double in size (about 90 minutes).
2. In the meantime, place a medium sized pot of water on your stovetop and bring up to a boil. Add a tablespoon of salt and once aboil, add your garlic and rapini and blanche for about 4 minutes. Remove from a strainer and run under cold water until cooled, then drain. Place in a bowl with a drizzle of olive oil and mash the garlic, toss and reserve.
3. One your dough has doubled in size, sprinkle some flour on your pizza paddle roll out the dough into your pizza shape. Lift the underside of the dough and sprinkle cornmeal underneath so that the you’ll be able to slide your pizza on your pre-heated pizza stone. Pre-heat your oven to 450F, place the pizza stone on the rack set to middle position and add the minced garlic, black pepper and oregano to your sauce and mix. Spread the sauce on your pizza dough then top with mozzarella and spread the reserved rapini over the cheese.
4. Now slice open the casing of your sausage and remove the meat (discard the casing). Roll the meat into little meatballs and scatter over your pizza.
5. Once your oven has hit 450F, slide your pizza on the hot pizza stone and bake for approx 10 minutes or until the cheese has melted and the outer crust has just browned. Carefully remove from the oven and allow to cool for a couple of minutes before slicing. Serve a bottle of Terradorra Anglianco 2009 red.

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© 2013, Peter Minakis. All rights reserved. If you are not reading this post in a feed reader or at http://kalofagas.ca then the site you are reading is illegally publishing copyrighted material. Contact me at truenorth67 AT gmail DOT COM. All recipes, text and photographs in this post are the original creations & property of the author.

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Big thank you’s to Despina Kreastoulas and Greg Pappas of the Greek America Foundation, who approached me to organize a dinner to coincide with the 3rd Annual Greek Film & Foto Week. Our guests loved the space, we all proudly wore our “I love GR” pins and some proceeds of the dinner will go to the Project Hope Fund.

The ambiance of the evening was rounded-out with the warm candle supplied by Neo-Image Candlelights. Thank you John! The wine was was furnished by Kolonaki Group and pairings selected by Steve Kriaris. The wines were splendid with the dinner, thank you Steve.

This dinner also had a couple of new collaborators: the first one being Kallikori olive oil from Messinia. Effy and Spyro have been friends for a few years and it was wonderful to finally have their product used in one of my dinners.

Keeping with the Messinia theme, many components of the menu were made with Navarino Icons products from Messinia. This company is world-renowned for its Costa Navarino luxury resort and now they’ve branched out to market and promote the local food items of of Messinia. A warm thank you Peter Poulos for his generous support.

Before you scan through the photos, a friendly reminder that the next dinner is set for Saturday, June 15th at the Cherry Street Restaurant. We’re going to be dining outdoors and feasting on whole lamb on the spit! Half the seats are already gone so gather your friends and book your seats soon.

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© 2013, Peter Minakis. All rights reserved. If you are not reading this post in a feed reader or at http://kalofagas.ca then the site you are reading is illegally publishing copyrighted material. Contact me at truenorth67 AT gmail DOT COM. All recipes, text and photographs in this post are the original creations & property of the author.

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Spring poppies, Amynteon, Florinis

• I’m cooking a Mastiha/Chios themed dinner in New York City on June 1st, grab your seats now
• Toronto International Film Festival to focus on Athens in 2013 City to City program
• Check out Kipos, a traditional Greek taverna in North Carolina
• Here’s a list of 51 recipes and ways you can use Greek yogurt in your cooking
• Spondi resturant of Athens joins the ranks of world’s top restaurants
• You may now pre-order my cookbook, Everything Mediterranean, in stores this November

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© 2013, Peter Minakis. All rights reserved. If you are not reading this post in a feed reader or at http://kalofagas.ca then the site you are reading is illegally publishing copyrighted material. Contact me at truenorth67 AT gmail DOT COM. All recipes, text and photographs in this post are the original creations & property of the author.

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Join me on Saturday, June 1st as I cook up a 5 course dinner inspired by the cuisine of Chios and its unique spice, Mastiha. It’s a resin from trees that only grow on the southern part of Chios and during Ottoman times, the punishment for anyone caught stealing it was death. It was quite literally worth its weight in gold!

Guests will be seated in Amali’s skylight room and the evening will begin with passed appetizers and cocktails made with Ya Mastiha liqueur. The dinner will also include Greek wines paired with each course.

The final ingredient to making this dinner a delicious success will be the the full backing of mastihashopNY, who will provide me with all the ingredients from Chios that can be found at their shop. 

Mastiha/Chios Dinner at Amali, June 1st, 8:30PM

Passed Appetizers:

Kolokithokeftedes with Mastiha-scented Tzatziki

Drunken Keftedakia in Chios Ouzo

Braised Octopus canape on fava with mastiha olive oil, pickled fennel

1st course:

Artichoke salad with mastiha-scented roasted cherry tomatoes, capers, sun-dried olives, kritamo

2nd course: Calamari stuffed with orange blossom & with shrimp, mastiha “butter”, tomato

Main: Braised lamb with honey, Chios sun-dried tomato sauce, mastiha, thyme

Dessert: Ekmek Kataifi – a terrine of kataifi pastry and Chios sour cherry spoon sweet.

Mastiha loukoumia

Dinner plus wine pairings $95 per person. Seats may be purchased by emailing the restaurant at events@amalinyc.com

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© 2013, Peter Minakis. All rights reserved. If you are not reading this post in a feed reader or at http://kalofagas.ca then the site you are reading is illegally publishing copyrighted material. Contact me at truenorth67 AT gmail DOT COM. All recipes, text and photographs in this post are the original creations & property of the author.

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Let’s kick off the summer season with an dinner set in Toronto’s Port Lands with Toronto’s skyline as the backdrop. This evening will be unforgettable as we watch the sun set over Toronto’s skyline, dining outdoors and enjoying a five-course dinner that will capture the essence of Greek evening.SOUVLA! The centerpiece menu item will be whole lamb on the spit, Greek style over charcoal…a rarity in this city unless you’re invited to a Greek friend’s home!

I am delighted to be cooking at the historic Cherry Street Restaurant located in Toronto’s Port Lands, in what used to be a Toronto Dominion bank. Owner/proprietor Louis Anagnostakos has converted this landmark into a warm, casual restaurants with a great view of Toronto’s skyline.

One of the most enjoyed Greek delicacies is whole rotisserie lamb, slow cooked over glowing embers and here’s your chance to have another taste of Greece. This specialty from Roumeli (central Greece) has been embraced throughout Greece and this evening will be your chance to enjoy one of my favourite dishes!

All courses will be paired with Greek wines from Kolonaki Group.

Entire menu cooked using Acropolis Organics extra-virgin olive oil.

Appetizers:

Psomotyri – Grilled Bread with Warm Cheese & Herbs

Jerked Pork Gyro Sliders & Slaw

Fried Zucchini & Eggplant Chips With Smoked Tyrokafteri

First Course – Greek Gazpacho With Feta & Olive Oil Ice Cube, Homemade Bread

Second Course – Grilled Manouri Salad with Crispy Sweetbreads & Kalamata Olive Dressing

Main: Whole Ontario Lamb on the Spit *(Souvla). Tzatziki, Greek Roast Potatoes & Briami

Dessert: Trigona Panoramatos filled with Creme Patisserie with Toasted Almonds

Tickets for full dinner plus wine-pairings for the entire meal is $75.00 (plus handling fee).

Tickets for full dinner (NO WINE) are $60.00 (plus handling fee).

Prices include HST.

Menu is subject to change.

*No menu substitutions

This is a RAIN OR SHINE EVENT| (Guests will be moved indoor in the event of rain)

Payments will be accepted through PayPal but those wishing to use credit cards may still click onto the PayPal page which allows you a credit card payment option.

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© 2013, Peter Minakis. All rights reserved. If you are not reading this post in a feed reader or at http://kalofagas.ca then the site you are reading is illegally publishing copyrighted material. Contact me at truenorth67 AT gmail DOT COM. All recipes, text and photographs in this post are the original creations & property of the author.

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