members recipes

In Greece, we serve it in periods of Festing but also throughout the year because it is so easily prepared and it tastes delicious! Give it a try!

Ingredients
1 cup of extra virgin olive oil, or other lighter oil if you prefer it
2 cups of semolina
3 cups of plain sugar
4 cups of water
zest of an orange or lemon
1 cinnamon stick
4-5 cloves
additional you can use raisins, dry fruit, pine nuts...

Method
A. In a pot we put the water, the sugar, the zest, the cinnamon stick and the cloves and we leave it to boil for 10 minutes so as to have a light syrup. When it\'s ready we leave it to cool off and we take outl the cinnamon stick and the cloves.
B. In a pan we put the oil and the semolina in medium heat and we stir until we see the semolina changing a bit its colour. We do that in order to cook the semolina gently because if the heat is high we might easily burn it.
C. When we see that the semolina is ready we carefully add the syrup - be extremely careful not to have children around because it boils a lot and it\'s hot - and stir until the semolina absorbs all the syrup and it forms a mass that does not stick on the sides of the pan. At that point you can add any extra ingredients you migh want like raisins, dry fruit, pine nuts e.t.c
D. Place the xalva on a mould and leave to cool. When it has cooled turn it on a nice plate and dust it with cinnamon and decorate it with nuts raisins and dry fruit.