Tirokafteri and an Easy Crudité Platter

Still looking for a great platter to get your next party started?  Not sure how to put it all together?  In every finger-food buffet, a vegetable-based platter alongside a delicious dip can be the center piece of the whole event.  A platter of beautifully arranged crudites, has never lost its popularity.  Its timelessness can be attributed to the visual appeal of raw vegetables–a showcase of nature’s abundance–and the feeling that you are about to eat something good for you.

What is Tirokafteri 

The center piece of this platter is a spicy Greek spread of roasted peppers, onions and whipped tangy Feta cheese known as tirokafteri or kopanisti, depending on which part of Greece it comes from.  This dip is so simple to make that you can put it together in no time.  Even better, it lends itself to improvisation:  no red bell pepper?  Substitute a couple of jarred, fire roasted peppers.  Don’t have time to roast the onions?  Sauté them instead.  The result is still delicious.  Better yet, this spread can also be used as a simple topping to baked potatoes, or, added to warm cooked pasta or rice.

Tirokafteri and an easy Crudité Platter

To prepare this platter, I arranged a bowl of tirokafteri in the middle, a second bowl of mixed, seasoned olives next to it, and, a third bowl of hot and sweet cherry peppers.  Then, I alternated the raw vegetables around the three bowls.  Good choices are halved radishes, young carrots, tender celery hearts, English cucumbers, bite-size broccoli florets, or, whatever else you have on hand.  No matter what the order, the result will surely be attractive!

How to make tirokafteri (Roasted Pepper & Feta Cheese Spread)

Tirokafteri and an easy Crudité Platter

 

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Prep time

5 mins

Cook time

15 mins

Total time

20 mins

 

Author: Marilena Leavitt

Recipe type: Appetizer

Cuisine: Greek

Serves: serves 4

Ingredients

• ½ med. sweet onion, thickly sliced
• 2 med. red bell peppers, thickly sliced
• 4 TBSP. extra virgin olive oil
• --- salt and cracked black pepper
• 1 cup Greek Feta cheese, crumbled
• 1 sm. pickled yellow pepper (pepperoncino), stem removed
• ½ tsp. dried Greek oregano
• 2 TBSP. fresh parsley, chopped
• --- pinch ground cumin
• ½ tsp. grated lemon zest
• 1 package Mediterranean Pita (pocketless variety), cut into triangles

Instructions

1. Place the onion slices and the pepper slices in a shallow baking pan and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Drizzle liberally with olive oil and then roast in a 375° F oven until tender and slightly brown. Set aside to cool.
2. In a food processor, combine all of the ingredients and process until very smooth. Taste for seasoning, but be careful not to add too much salt because the Feta cheese is salty.
3. Brush some olive oil on the pita triangles and sprinkle with your favorite herbs. Toast lightly in the oven. For a simpler preparation, just warm the pita bread triangles in the oven. If you don’t have pita bread, use plain pita bite crackers.
4. This spread can be stored up to a week in the refrigerator and should be eaten at room temperature. It can be made a couple of days ahead of time which gives the flavor a chance to develop.

Notes

Pepperoncini are added for heat. They can easily be found in glass jars at any supermarket, usually next to the pickles.

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