Tourlou tourlou - Greek ratatouille

Tourlou - tourlou is one of these dishes one cannot stop eating! It's so rich in taste and colorful that everyone loves it. Its name means "mixed up" and basically that's what you do - you mix various vegetables into this delicious combination. I didn't know tourlou before I came to Greece - in Poland we make a vegetable stew dishes, but with completely different spicing and ingredients, so it was a very pleasant surprise for me and my taste buds. 

When I was doing a research about it, I found two ways of making it - one calls for a pot and you braise vegetables on a medium heat and the other one is made in the oven on a deep baking pan. Personally I like it made in a pot, as I'm getting more of the delicious juices this way and I just love to dip my bread in it. 

Tourlou is perfect comfort food and easy to make, it also gets better in time! So grab a big pot and make enough to enjoy it next day as well!

Greek "little shoes" - stuffed eggplants (Papoutsakia)

Another delicious Greek dish! Now eggplants are at their peak, so I wouldn't forgive myself if I didn't make papoutsakia. The name in Greek means literally "little shoes", which I find adorable and accurate at the same time, as they do resemble little shoes when they're cooked.
These incredible stuffed eggplants are filled with aromatic meat sauce and topped with béchamel. 

It takes some time to make them, but trust me - the effort really pays off!
As with some other Greek dishes, I always make enough papoutsakia to have it for 2-3 meals.  They're as delicious as fresh or even better the next day - reheated with some melted halloumi cheese on top.

Classic Greek moussaka (μουσακάς) with béchamel sauce

If you'd ask me what's an example of a Greek food, moussaka would be one of the top ten on my list. It's one of the most known Greek dishes and really worth trying if you haven't yet!
The combination of vegetables, meat and spices creates an explosion of taste in your mouth and it's really hard to stop eating once you start.

Moussaka (μουσακάς) is a type of layered casserole made with potatoes, eggplants, tomatoes and minced meat. Ideally you would use lamb meat, but pork, beef or mix of these work great too.

The secret of a great moussaka is to fry eggplants and potatoes before you make them into layers - it really does make a difference!