GREEK DINNER PART I: Fava Fritters with Caper Tomato Sauce

Chris and I celebrated our 2nd wedding anniversary this week with a homemade Greek dinner in memory of our honeymoon to Athens, Mykonos, Naxos, and Santorini. When we were in Santorini we took a cooking class at Selene Restaurant where we created these dishes, after learning about local foods and recipes, as well as tasting local cheeses and wine. Not only was the food and wine delicious, but the staff was incredibly friendly and knowledgeable. We loved our day there (and the dinner there another night on our trip); the experience was definitely a highlight of our trip.

Our plan is to make cooking this Greek dinner an anniversary tradition. That being said, we've only made these recipes three times with a lot of time to forget details in between, which means we're still fine tuning. But now with the blog, I'll have notes to look back on next year, and the year after that, and the year after that... :)

Things to note about the fritters:

• With different ingredients than those local to Santorini, I've made some changes to cook time and amounts across both recipes, as well as interpreted some broken English on our printed recipes. It's still a work in progress. 
• I had to simmer the "fava" for much more than the directed hour. I turned up the heat to have more of a bubble, which helped to speed up the process. Maybe it's what they call a simmer in Greece, or maybe it's the difference between Greek favas and the substituted American yellow split peas... either way, increase the heat and time a bit to cook them all the way through. 
• I doubled the amount of semolina added to the peas before creating the fritters in a hope to make the consistency thicker and easier to work into patties. Continue adding semolina as necessary.

The flavorful tomato caper sauce absolutely makes these unique fritters. I think this is my favorite part of the meal. Enjoy!

FAVA FRITTERS WITH CAPER TOMATO SAUCE
recipe from Selene Restaurant, www.selene.gr

Ingredients:

• 8 cups pre-cooked fava (see below)
• 1 cup semonlina (doubled from original recipe)
• 1/2 cup finely chopped scallions
• 1 teaspoon of chopped mint
• 1 teaspoon of chopped parsley

• 1/2 cup semolina for dredging
• 1/2 cup of olive oil for frying

Method:

Mix all these ingredients. Then shape into 5 cm diameter by 1 cm high discs. Dredge the fritters in semolina; fry in olive oil until golden brown and crisp. Drain on paper towels. Serve with the sauce separate.

How to Cook "Fava"

(Fava: small yellow dried split peas from Santorini)

Ingredients:

• 2 cups fava (substitute yellow dried split peas)
• 6 cups water
• 1 medium onion (cut in half, keeping large pieces since they will later be discarded)

Method:

Place split peas with onion in a medium-size pot with cold water; bring them to boil and simmer for 50 minutes to one hour, or until peas are soft and they have cooked down to a pulp. Season with salt and pepper, add water if necessary. When quite ready and still hot, mix in the olive oil and discard the onion. Allow to stand for some minutes uncovered until the fava has absorbed all the water. 

Caper Tomato Sauce

Ingredients:

• 1 cup capers
• 1/2 cup finely chopped scallions
• 1 tin of tomatoes or 1 cup fresh tomato pulp (crushed tomatoes)
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1/4 cup white wine
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 clove of garlic finely chopped
• salt and pepper

Method:

Rinse the capers in water. Remove and drain very well in a colander. Heat olive oil in a heavy skillet. Saute the onion and the garlic. Add the wine, then add the tomatoes, the capers, and the bay leaves. Simmer for half an hour at a low temperature.