Spicy Greek Baked Feta (Bouyourdi)

The classic Greek bouyourdi comes from Thessaloniki, the second largest city and located in the northern part of Greece. It features a block of feta cheese baked with fresh tomatoes, spicy peppers, olive oil, and oregano until it becomes warm, gooey, and spreadable. It is traditionally served piping hot in an earthenware baking dish, alongside crusty bread or pita for dipping. It can be served as a course in a large meal, or as an appetizer with a good glass of wine. 

Julian's Bouyourdi (Spicy Greek Baked Feta)

Served with Crusty Bread and Fruit Afterwards

Depending on where you are dining, you can find various forms of the dish but you will consistently find that all of them include the Greek sheep's milk feta, tomatoes and peppers. Most traditionally use the longhorn chile, but some will substitute for jalapeño, as I do because finding the longhorn chile near me isn't easy. 

You can let people dive in with pieces of crusty bread or provide them with a spoon or knife to help spread it on the bread. You will likely need a bread plate as it's a bit messy to eat, but it's certainly delicious and worth a few drips. 

Ingredients (serves 4-6)

1 large tomato, cored
1 longhorn chile or 1 jalapeño, stemmed
1/2 green bell pepper, cut into 1/4-inch pieces

1/2 small red onion, sliced (optional)

1/2 cup pitted greek olives (optional)
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
11/2 teaspoons dried oregano, divided
1 (7-8 ounce) block feta cheese (sheep milk feta, packed in water)
1/2 teaspoon dried red pepper flakes
 

Instructions

Adjust oven rack to upper-middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees.

Slice two 1/4-inch rounds from tomato and set aside. Chop remaining tomato into 1/2-inch pieces and place in small bowl. Remove the stem and slice two ¼-inch rings from chile/jalapeño and set aside. Mince remaining chile/jalapeño and add to chopped tomatoes along with bell pepper, and olives. Add 2 tablespoons oil and 1 teaspoon oregano and stir to combine.  Pour into baking dish, and smooth into even layer.

Center feta block on top of vegetables. Arrange tomato slices and chile/jalapeño rings in single layer on top of feta. Drizzle with remaining 1 tablespoon oil and sprinkle with remaining 1/2 teaspoon oregano and the dried red pepper flakes. Cover dish with a lid or tightly with aluminum foil and bake until diced vegetables have softened and tomato slices are beginning to soften at edges, about 25 minutes.

Remove the cover and return dish to oven. Turn on broiler. Broil until edges of tomato and chile/jalapeño slices are slightly browned, 4 to 7 minutes. Remove dish from oven and serve hot.

Ready for the Oven

Preparing to Assemble Ingredients