I figured I better squeeze in all the fried cheese while it’s still December and we can splurge on some richer foods (and eat them too)! I have just one thick slab of Batzo cheese left in the fridge – a cheese from northern Greece that I brought back this past summer. To refresh your memories, this cheese is indigenous to central and western province of Macedonia, it’s made of sheep or goat’s milks, firm but spongy in looks with the holes evident when you slice into a slab.

I love Batzo because it’s briny but  not that forward or as sharp as a Kefalotyri cheese, it’s holds up well to heat and it’s one Greece’s many cheeses ideal for frying. Saganki? OPA!!

Today I’ve pulled together three Greek dishes into one: frying cheese, a Greek meatball called a “keftede” and another northern Greek specialty – Makalo: a sauce made from drippings in a pan or fat of some sort, flour and liquid. It could be water, stock and spiked with spices or some tomato purée. The consistency of Makalo is much like a gravy and it’s great for dipping fries in it, bread or in this case…cheese and meatballs.

My dad often mixes some ground beef with onions, herbs, binder and hand-rolls some keftedes with which he then dredges in flour and then fry in a heavy-bottomed pan. The keftedes are reserved then pours off the oil and adds some more followed by some flour to make a roux then hot liquid like water or stock, some tomato paste (or juice) and while he’s stirring he’ll add some sweet paprika, a pinch of smoked paprika from his home town of Amynteo and salt to taste. Some Boukovo (chilli flakes) usually were sprinkled at the end.

The meatballs would go into the thick Makalo to heat through and the dunking of bread and nibbling keftedes would ensue. My friend Diane Kochilas shares a Vlach dish from nearby Nymfaio where they would fry-up some Batzo cheese then make a similar Makalo and add the cheese back in. Here, you get two-for-one….fried cheese and meatballs to make a fabulously rustic dish that’s as a far removed from the pretentious eateries of Kolonaki that i can think of.

It’s time for a return to “village dishes” me thinks.

Fried Batzo With Makalo & Kefte (Μπάτζος με Μακαλο και Κεφτες)

(makes 1 appetizer portion for two)

1 slab of Batzos cheese, about 1/2 inch thick (kefalotyri, kefalograviera or a firm kasseri could be used)

olive oil for frying cheese

1 Tbsp. unsalted butter or olive oil

1 heaping tsp. all-purpose flour

1 tsp. of sweet paprika

1 tsp. tomato paste

1 small clove of garlic, minced

approx. 1/3 cup hot water or stock

pinch of smoked paprika

salt and pepper to taste

1.  This dish came about with some leftover keftedes that I added at the end of frying the cheese and making the Makalo, so use whatever leftover meatballs you have or make a batch of my family’s keftedes. Place a heavy-bottomed skillet or cast-iron pan on your stove-top over medium-high heat. Slice a slab of Batzos cheese to about 1/2 inch thick and wet it under some running tap water then dredge it all-purpose flour (shake off excess).
2. Add a turn of olive in the hot pan and once hot, add the cheese and fry for a couple of minutes a side or until crisp and golden. Remove from the pan and reserve. Drain off the oil, wipe the pan clean (so your sauce doesn’t become too dark) and add the butter and as soon as it’s melted, add the flour and stir with a wooden spoon for a minute. Now add the tomato and stir in then add some water, the minced garlic, paprika and stir and gradually add more water until the sauce is thick, creamy.
3. Adjust seasoning with salt, some chilli flakes and a pinch of smoked paprika and gently place the reserved fried Batzo and keftede and allow to warm through for a couple of minutes in the sauce (Makalo).
4. Carefully carry the pan to the table and serve “as is” along with some good crusty bread and a chilled Chrisohoou Petritis Rose from Naoussa.

* You can substitute Batzo with Kefalotyri, Kefalograviera, Halloumi, or a firm Kasseri.