A collection of over 80 recipes from popular TV personality and UK MasterChef alumni Theo Michaels; paying homage to his heritage through inspired by the flavours of Greece and Cyprus.

Theo’s delicious recipes evoke a sense of connection to nature, seasonality, abundance, and sociable eating. Fresh ingredients sing from the plate, from juicy watermelon and glossy kalamata olives, to fragrant oregano-roasted lamb and delicate vine-leaf-baked branzino. Meze features mouth-watering small plates for sharing from creamy whipped dips to meatballs. The sea is woven into Greek culture and seafood is a staple; enjoy the freshest fish and shellfish cooked simply and served with a squeeze of lemon juice. Meat is a huge part of the Greek diet—rabbit, goat, chicken, and lamb are the mainstay, with pork enjoyed at Easter celebrations. Cooking over charcoal is part of daily life.

The Cypriots use a large rotisserie famous for its souvla (long skewer), while mainland Greece make souvlaki and both charcoal grilled and oven-roasted dishes are included here. Greek yogurt, along with artisan cheeses (feta, halloumi etc.) can be eaten hot (saganaki) or shaved into vibrant salads and the traditions of ‘horta’ means there are plenty of vegetable dishes to enjoy. Finally, Greek desserts are often just a sweet note to savor with a bitter black coffee or come sundown you may prefer a Greek-inspired cocktail such as an Ouzo Sour.

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Greek Vegetable Tart

The is simple yet handsome tart relies on classic sunshine flavours and colours to create a quick and delicious bite to eat. It works wonderfully as a light lunch with just a few dressed green leaves on the side, or can be popped on the table for all to share. I buy ready-made puff pastry and, if I’m totally honest, I usually grab the pre-rolled variety for utter convenience as well. Sometimes you just have to be a little Machiavellian about things!

350 g/12 oz. ready-made puff pastry

1 courgette/zucchini

½ aubergine/eggplant

½ red Romano pepper, deseeded

¼ red onion

a generous pinch of Greek dried oregano

a generous pinch of ground cumin

12 baby plum tomatoes

50 g/ 1¾ oz. halloumi cheese

2 tablespoons pine nut kernels

1 tablespoon Greek honey

125 g/ ½ cup Greek yogurt

70 g/ 2 ½ oz. feta cheese

salt and freshly ground black pepper

olive oil, for drizzling

a few sprigs of basil, to garnish (Greek basil if available)

25 x 38-cm/10 x 15-inch baking

sheet, lined with baking parchment

SERVES 6–8

Preheat the oven to 200°C (400°F) Gas 6.

Roll out the puff pastry (if necessary) so that it fits snugly on the prepared baking sheet. Using a sharp knife, lightly score all the way round about 2.5 cm/ 1 inch inside the edge of the puff pastry and bake in the preheated oven for 10–12 minutes, or until the pastry has puffed up and started to turn golden. Once the puff pastry is cooked, remove from the oven and let it cool slightly, before gently pushing down the centre of the pastry, leaving you with a little ‘collar’ around the edge.

To prepare the filling, dice the courgette, aubergine and pepper into about 2.5-cm/ 1-inch cubes and thinly slice the red onion. Drizzle with a little olive oil, season generously with the oregano, cumin and salt and pepper, and roast in the oven on a separate baking sheet for 10 minutes.

Quarter the baby plum tomatoes, grate the halloumi cheese and add both to the roasted vegetables, along with the pine nuts and honey.

When you are ready to assemble, dot the puff pastry base with a few spoonfuls of Greek yogurt and then distribute the mixed vegetables over the top, including on top of the yogurt. Try to keep thevegetables in one layer; if they are overloaded it will go a little soggy. Finally, crumble the feta in chunks on top, drizzle with a little olive oil and bake in the oven for a further 10 minutes just to help all the ingredients snuggle up together.

Once cooked, let it cool slightly and then garnish with a scattering of basil leaves and a good turn of black pepper.

Recipe reprinted with permission from Ryland Peters & Small.