Bouyiourdi (Baked Feta with Cherry Tomatoes, Olives and Oregano)

La storia di questo piatto

Bouyiourdi belongs to Thessaloniki, the taverna table of northern Greece, where feta meets the oven's heat. The version with tomato is a twentieth-century chapter in a story the tavernas keep telling.

Ingredienti

• 400 g Feta PDO sheep's milk cheese, in one block
• 300 g Ripe datterini cherry tomatoes
• 1 piece Sweet green pepper
• 60 g Pitted Kalamata olives
• 4 tablespoon Extra virgin olive oil
• 2 teaspoon Dried Greek oregano
• 1 teaspoon Red chili flakes
• 1 pinch Fine salt
• 1 pinch Freshly ground black pepper
• 4 piece Warm Greek bread or pita

Preparazione

1. Preheat the oven to 200°C, static, and place inside a cast-iron or heavy metal baking dish (not earthenware or glass, which with cold vegetables and juices risk cracking from thermal shock): it must heat thoroughly, because a searing-hot base makes the vegetables sizzle immediately instead of letting them stew in their own juices. Meanwhile, drain the feta from its brine, pat it dry with kitchen paper and cut it into 4 thick pieces. Never crumble it, as it would dry out in the oven and become hard. If it seems very salty, give it a brief soak in cold water and dry it again.
2. Wash the cherry tomatoes and halve them. Clean the pepper, remove the seeds and white membranes and slice into thin rings, less than half a centimetre, so they cook at the same rate as the tomatoes. Put the vegetables in a bowl with the olives, 2 tablespoons of oil, 1 pinch of salt and 1 of pepper, and mix with your hands. The salt goes in now because it draws out the juices from the tomatoes, which will become the sauce to scoop up with the bread at the end. Go easy on the salt: the feta and olives are already salty.
3. Using oven mitts, take out the searing-hot dish and pour in the vegetables together with their juices: you should hear them sizzle as soon as they touch the base. Spread them into a single layer and place the feta pieces on top, well spaced apart. Drizzle with the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil, then sprinkle with the oregano, rubbing it between your palms to awaken its aroma, and with the chili flakes. Return immediately to the oven, on the middle shelf, so the dish doesn't cool down.
4. Bake for 15 minutes, then check: the tomatoes should have collapsed, the juices should be bubbling at the edges of the dish and the feta should be soft, with rounded corners. If it is still firm, give it another 5 minutes. Then turn on the grill and move the dish to the top shelf for the final 4-5 minutes: the surface of the feta should turn golden in patches and the olives on top should become glossy. Stop as soon as you smell toasted cheese, before it burns, and keep an eye on it because the grill works fast.
5. Let the bouyiourdi rest for 2 minutes outside the oven and meanwhile warm the bread on the griddle or in the still-warm oven, until soft and fragrant. Taste the sauce at the bottom of the dish: if it lacks liveliness, add another pinch of oregano or a grind of pepper. Salt is usually not needed. Bring the dish to the table still steaming and break the feta directly at the table: everyone spreads it on the bread and scoops up the sauce, while it is creamy and warm. Cold is another thing entirely; it is no longer bouyiourdi.