THINK YUMMY: Greek Popovers with Graviera Naxos & Oregano

I am not good with bread dough. But when I carefully read various recipes for popovers, I realised that by changing a bit my favourite recipe for crepes and adding a couple of Greek ingredients for the filling, I could easily and quickly make light, airy and  crispy, savoury bread puffs. Popovers are the perfect addition to elevate Sunday brunch.

Ingredients:

• 2 big eggs (at room temperature)
• 1 cup milk (at room temperature)
• 2 tbsp unsalted butter, melted (at room temperature)
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• ¼  tsp salt 
• ½ cup graviera* Naxos cheese, finely grated or other cheese (parmesan, cheddar, gruyere)
• 2 tsp oregano or other herb (chive, dill)

*Graviera Naxos is a rich cheese from the Greek island Naxos with a buttery and sweet taste, made from fresh, local cow milk and left to dry on wooden shelves for at least 3 months in controlled temperature in cellars. 

Instructions: 

1. Preheat the oven to 200° C .
2. Lightly grease a standard 12-cup, metal muffin/cupcake pan.
3. Melt the butter in low heat. 
4. In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, melted butter, flour, and salt until well blended.  
5. Fold in the cheese and oregano and keep whisking until you get a thin, but with a few lumps batter.
6. Preheat the pan in the oven for 2-3 minutes.
7. Transfer the batter to a large measuring cup, so that we can easily pour it evenly to the pan – filling the cups only 2/3 full, as the popovers will get puffed.
8. Return the pan to the oven and bake for 20 minutes to 200°C and then reduce the oven temperature to 180° C and continue baking for another 10 minutes, until the popovers are tall, puffed and golden brown.
9. Remove from the oven and let the pan to cool for only a few minutes.
10. Remove the popovers from the pan and serve them hot.

Tips: 

• Let the batter rest while pre-heating the oven, giving the flour time to absorb the liquid, so that the popovers have a better texture.
• Use pre-heated, preferably metallic (not silicone) pans for muffins/cupcakes and start baking in a very hot oven at high temperature (200°C) for 20 minutes, in order to get them to puff and then lower the temperature (180°C), in order to help them dry out. Otherwise, the popovers will "collapse".
• Do NOT open the oven door while baking to ensure a consistent oven temperature for the popovers to puff.
• They should be baked until golden brown with a crispy shell, but light and airy in the middle.
• We could add finely grated parmesan, cheddar or gruyere cheese instead of graviera Naxos cheese, as well as any herb we like (chives, dill etc.)
• They are best served warm right out of the oven.
• Enjoy the popovers with sausages, salami, eggs (scrambled, omelette, frittata), green salad and a glass of fresh lemonade.

Good Luck!