Greek Eggplant, Pepper & Feta Pita
Greek Style Eggplant, Pepper & Feta Pita is the Meatless Monday entrée today. It is loaded with the flavors of the Mediterranean: Eggplant, peppers, Greek green olives, Kalamata olives, onions, peperoncini and Feta cheese.
I’ve been dabbling in cheese-making at home for a while now, but back in late January I made Feta cheese for the first time. Feta is one of our favourite cheeses and I had been wanting to make it. The only problem was that the instructions in my cheese-making book were really confusing; it made Feta seem so hard to do. Then, my friend Rebecca over at Foodie with Family posted the process for making Feta and she made it seem easy.
She makes her Feta with three gallons of milk and I thought that would be way too much Feta for Mr. Saucy and me, so I cut the recipe down to make it with one gallon of milk. Boy, was I wrong. I have just put my second batch, made with a single gallon, in the brine to age for a couple of weeks. I’ll be making a much larger batch very soon.
Feta cheese immediately takes my mind to Mediterranean foods…the brined Feta and briny olives…olive oil and eggplant and peppers…so, this pita was a natural combination. I toyed with the idea of doing a yogurt/cucumber condiment to go with it, but it really didn’t need a single thing more. The vegetable mixture is moist and flavourful enough on its own.
I used both Greek Green Olives and Kalamata olives. I had some Peloponnese green olives, but any green olive would work just fine. The combination of the two olives was wonderful.
This sandwich is so filling and delicious, it’s perfect for Meatless Monday. And it is simple and very quick to throw together. The ingredients I listed will stuff 6 healthy-sized pita halves. Of course, you don’t have to make your own Feta…store-bought is just fine.
Do make this pita, though…your taste buds will thank you.
P~
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 small eggplant (skin on), julienned (cut into strips) ½ inch x 3 inches
- 1 small red bell pepper, julienned (cut into strips), ½ inch x 3 inches
- 1 small yellow bell pepper, julienned (cut into strips), ½ inch x 3 inches
- 1 small onion, julienned (cut into strips), ½ inch pieces
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- ¼ cup Greek green olives, halved
- ¼ cup Kalamata olives, halved
- ¼ cup Feta cheese, crumbled
- 3 tablespoons peperoncini, sliced
- 3 whole pita, warmed in a skillet (I used my iron skillet with grill grid to make grill marks on the pita)
- In a medium-sized skillet, over medium heat, add the olive oil and eggplant.
- Saute for about 4 minutes.
- Add the pepper slices, onion and garlic.
- Cover and allow to saute/steam for about 4 minutes, or just until the peppers and onion are softened and the eggplant is cooked through.
- Remove from heat.
- Add the olives, peperoncini and Feta and stir to combine.
- Slice the pita in half, open the pocket and stuff with the filling.
- Serve hot.
