Baked tomato fritters from Santorini

I recently started tweaking traditional Greek recipes, foods that I enjoyed as a child and I still enjoy every time I visit my home country. To showcase the Greek cuisine and Mediterranean diet, this week I’m baking tomato fritters (known as ‘domatokeftedes’ in Greek). This dish is very popular in Santorini, where it is served as an appetiser. Traditionally, tomato fritters are deep-fried and not baked. But, since I am an advocate for healthy eating, I swapped the frying pan for the oven.

Despite being eaten and prepared as vegetables, tomatoes are actually fruits. They are rich in various antioxidants and the major dietary source of lycopene, which has been linked to many health benefits, including reduced risk of heart disease and cancer. They are also a great source of vitamin C, potassium, folate, and vitamin K.

Food and mood

I recently attended a presentation about food and mood, a topic that interests me and I’ve previously written about. According to this presentation, these are the dietary recommendations for the prevention of depression:

1. Follow ‘traditional’ dietary patterns, such as the Mediterranean, Norwegian, or Japanese diet.

2. Increase consumption of fruits, vegetables, legumes, wholegrain cereals, nuts and seeds.

3. Include a high consumption of foods rich in omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (such as fish, seafood, plant oils, nuts and seeds).

4. Replace unhealthy foods with wholesome nutritious foods.

5. Limit your intake of processed foods, ‘fast’ foods, commercial bakery goods and sweets.

The interactions between diet and mental health and wellbeing are of course very complex. At the same time, however, there is increasing evidence that diet significantly affects our mental health and wellbeing. For this reason, as a Psychiatrist, I strongly believe that a healthy and balanced diet should be part of a holistic approach towards better mental health and wellbeing.

Having been born and raised in Greece, I am used to following the Mediterranean diet, one of the healthiest in the world. The Mediterranean diet includes relatively high consumption of fruits and vegetables, olive oil, grains, legumes and nuts, moderate consumption of fish and poultry, as well as red wine, and low consumption of dairy products and red and processed meat. It has been linked to reduced risk for cardiovascular disease, certain types of cancer, Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s diseases, and increased longevity. On that note, I would like to point out that even though a moderate consumption of red wine can be beneficial to our health, alcohol is a double-edged sword, since a higher consumption is associated to many physical and mental illnesses.

Baked tomato fritters

So, without further ado, let’s now bake those tomato fritters…

Ingredients:

500 grams tomatoes, diced
200 grams feta cheese, crumbled
1 egg, beaten
A diced onion (I use frozen pre-diced onion)
A squeeze of tomato paste
Herbs: parsley, oregano
Spices: paprika
Salt and pepper
1 teaspoon baking powder
150 grams flour (1 cup), and a bit more for coating

Makes about 8 fritters

Method:

Dice the tomatoes and place in a colander.
Sprinkle with salt and let the tomatoes drain for a couple of hours.
In a bowl, add the tomatoes, the feta cheese, the egg, the onion, the tomato paste the herbs, paprika, salt and pepper, and mix.
Add the baking powder to the flour.
Then, add the flour to the mix.
Chill in the fridge for 30 minutes.
Shape the mixture into balls and coat with flour.
Place the balls on a baking tray. Gently press down, but do not flatten them.
Bake at 180 degrees for about 25-30 minutes, or until the fritters are golden and crunchy.

Further reading

For a taste of Mykonos, check out my ‘watermelon & feta: Mykonos-inspired recipes‘

If you’ve liked this recipe, check out my ‘baked zucchini (courgette) fritters‘

For more mouth-watering Greek recipes, check out the following recently-published posts:

‘Spinach and feta cheese pie‘

‘Fava: a healthy Greek island recipe‘

‘Trahanas: heart-warming Greek winter recipes‘

‘6 delicious Greek summer recipes‘

Alex

(the Traveling Psychiatrist)