Taramosalata

My ex-Greek mother-in-law was scary good at reading the Greek coffee cup. Once she predicted some bank would be robbed near my husband’s restaurant.And sure enough, the next day sirens were blazin’ and  2 doors down, the local bank was emptied out by 3 bandits! Mama’ was also a scary good cook. Here’s her tasty Taramosalata recipe! Opa!

Taramosalata

Recipe by: Bobbi Jo Lathan

Recipe type: Appetizer

Cuisine: Middle Eastern

Serves: 6

PREP TIME

10 mins

COOK TIME

10 mins

TOTAL TIME

20 mins

INGREDIENTS

One uncut loaf of rustic crusty bread (large enough to get 7 slices)

1 cup cold water

½ cup tarama ( a Greek salmon roe caviar paste)

2 lemons (squeezed)

1 tablespoon onion (grated)

¾ cup good extra-virgin olive oil

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Cut your loaf of crusty bread in half and with your hands, scoop out the bread

2. from the inside of the loaf. You do not want to use the crust.

3. Place a bowl containing the 1 cup of water in the sink and soak the removed

4. bread for about 4-5 minutes. Then, squeeze the pieces of wet and doughy bread

5. with your hands until all the water is squeezed out. If you like, you may also wrap

6. the bread in a dish towel and press it dry.

7. Add the squeezed bread into your food processor or Nutri-Bullet, along with the

8. tarama, the lemon juice, grated onion and ½ cup of the olive oil. Process until

9. smooth. It should be fluffy, but thick enough to hold its shape on a spoon. If the

10. mixture is fluffy and smooth enough, you do not have to add the rest of the olive

11. oil. However, (since the type of rustic crusty bread can differ) if the mixture is too

12. thick and not fluffy, add the rest of the olive oil and mix until smooth and fluffy.

13. Put the taramosalata into a bowl, cover with some plastic wrap and place into the

14. refrigerator until ready to use.

15. Serve with triangle-sliced pita bread and calamata olives as an appetizer.

NOTES

If you want to use a large mortar and pestle you will only add the ingredients a little at a time. Beat in the lemon juice and onion, and tarama, adding a little olive oil at a time, and keep mashing until the mixture is a smooth paste. Also, if you cannot find Tarama, you may substitute salmon caviar.