I only make this recipe every few years because a) I have to go to a special store for the Greek cheese and b) It’s not that great for you to fry cheese in oil. Haha. But when I do channel my Greek heritage, I make the following recipe. I enjoy my new kitchen too much to try to light the dish afire so I stick to a simple method. You can scale this recipe, because a lb. of this cheese is often $9.99-11.99! Yikes! We used a cast-iron pan! Enjoy….
INGREDIENTS:
- 1 lb. Kefalotyri or Kasseri cheese
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 2/3 cup flour for dredging
- Freshly ground black pepper**
- 2-3 lemons, quartered **
- (Beaten egg, optional).
**Known IC irritants, tread carefully! It will lose a lot of flavor to remove the pepper and lemon juice, but it can be done to make it safe.
DIRECTIONS:
- Cut the cheese into slices that are 1/2″ thick by 2.5-3″ wide.
- Combine flour with a few grinds of freshly ground pepper.
- Moisten each slice with cold water and dredge in the flour.
- If desired, after dredging in flour, you can dip the cheese into the beaten egg at this point.
- In a sagani (Greek pan used for this dish) or a small heavy-bottomed frying pan (like cast-iron), heat the oil over medium-high heat, and sear each slice in 1 T. of oil until golden-brown on both sides.
- Serve hot with a last-minute squeeze of fresh lemon juice.