‘I want everyone to live like a Mediterranean nonna’

Food writer and journalist Anastasia Miari’s yiayia (grandmother in Greek) was “not impressed” with her new cookbook, Mediterranea. “She never learned to read or write, so was like, ‘What do I do with this?’ She was just looking for her photo in it,” says Miari with a laugh. “But as soon as you walk into her house [in Corfu], she’s got my three books on the back of her sofa and my wedding photo in the middle of them all – the biggest achievement for her in life. So I know she’s proud of me.”

The recipes – from a Greek-style risotto to a Tunisian carrot dip – are largely vegetarian (“There’s no one better than grannies to teach us about zero waste, not eating too much meat and doing what you can with what you’ve got,”) and Miari hopes they’ll become staples. “No one cooks like these women,” she says. “If you’ve been making the same dish day in, day out for 70 years, you’re going to have perfected it.”

Also, these recipes are supremely achievable. “I’m not a trained chef, I just want dinner to be easy and taste amazing, with minimum effort,” says Miari. “Some of these women raised families of 10, and then their kids had kids, and they were raising them as well. They had to learn to do things quickly and find shortcuts.”

She hopes this collection of stories and dishes is a chance for people to “inject a little bit of Mediterranean living into their own lives. It’s not just about eating well, it’s about taking the time to just not do anything, to have a nap or to go for a swim or to go for a walk in nature,” she says, adding with a laugh: “I want everyone to live like a Mediterranean nonna – or, at least a couple of times a week!”

Spaghetti alle vongole

Ingredients:

(Serves 4)

400g cherry tomatoes

1 heaped tbsp sea salt, plus extra to taste

350g spaghetti

60ml olive oil

4 garlic cloves, halved and germs removed

1/2 bunch of parsley, stems and leaves separated, and leaves finely chopped

2 small dried chillies

850g vongole clams, washed

Method:

1. First, make a one centimetre deep incision in the shape of a cross in the top of each tomato, then set aside.

2. Bring a large saucepan of water to the boil for the pasta. Once at a rolling boil, add the salt, then the spaghetti. Make a note of the cooking time on the packet and set a timer for two minutes before the end of the suggested cooking – it will finish cooking in the pan with the clams.

3. Meanwhile, heat the oil in a deep frying pan over a low heat and fry the garlic, parsley stems and chillies for five minutes, then remove the garlic, parsley and chilli from the pan using a slotted spoon and discard them. Add the tomatoes to the pan, increasing the heat to medium and cover. Allow the tomatoes to steam in their own juices for about four minutes, then add the clams, cover again and cook for a minute or so. Add a scant ladle of pasta cooking water to the pan and continue to cook until the clams have opened – discard any that don’t. Use a slotted spoon to remove some of the clams and set aside.

4. Drain the pasta, then quickly add it to the pan, stirring constantly until the sauce thickens. Divide between plates and add the reserved clams, plus a sprinkling of parsley leaves. Eat immediately.

Omek houria

Ingredients:

(Serves 6)

8 carrots, peeled and chopped into 2.5cm rounds

1tsp sea salt, plus extra to taste

1tbsp harissa paste

2tbsp olive oil

2tbsp white wine vinegar

1tsp caraway seeds, pounded in a pestle and mortar

1 garlic clove, crushed

1 bunch of parsley, leaves very finely chopped

Crusty bread or pitta bread, to serve

Method:

1. Bring a saucepan of water to the boil and cook the carrots for 15 minutes, then add the salt and continue to cook on a rolling boil for a further five minutes, or until the carrots are completely soft. You can also choose to steam the carrots (retaining more of the nutrients of the vegetable), but ensure they’re soft enough to mash after steaming. Drain and allow to cool before the next step.

2. While the carrots are cooling, combine the harissa, oil, vinegar, caraway seeds and a pinch of salt in a jug (pitcher) or small bowl, stirring until they come together.

3. Once the carrots have cooled, use a pestle and mortar (as Houriye does) or blitz the carrots into a puree in a food processor, then transfer to a bowl. Combine the pureed carrot with the harissa dressing, garlic and parsley.

4. Serve with crusty bread or pitta bread.

Spanakorizo

Ingredients:

(Serves 4)

1kg spinach (Soula insists it is always fresh and never from frozen)

160ml olive oil, plus extra to serve

4 large spring onions (scallions), trimmed and chopped into 1cm rounds

2 large leeks, trimmed and cleaned, then chopped into 2.5cm half-moons

1 bunch of dill, roughly chopped

2 large garlic cloves, green germs removed and roughly chopped

700ml water

150g medium-grain rice, such as karolina

1/2tsp ground black pepper

1/2tbsp salt

1 chicken stock (bouillon) cube (optional – reduce the salt by half if using)

1/2 lemon, for squeezing

Feta and bread, to serve

Method:

1. Start by washing the spinach. Place it in a large bowl of water with a splash of vinegar and wash well, roughly tearing it to pieces as you do so and removing any tough stalks. The vinegar will ensure you get rid of any little friends hiding in the leaves.

2. Drain the spinach and place it in a large saucepan over a medium-high heat. Cover and allow to steam for 10 minutes. Next, add the olive oil, followed by the spring onions, leeks, dill and garlic. Cook, stirring every so often, for about five minutes.

3. Pour in the water and the rice, followed by the salt, pepper and stock cube, if using. Cover and simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally to stop the rice sticking.

4. Once the rice is tender, season again to taste and add a squeeze of lemon for a final zingy flourish. Served with a slab of feta, an extra drizzle of olive oil and plenty of crusty bread.