TZATZIKI

Makes 1 large pot full

If you have ever been to Greece or know any Greeks, you probably would have realised we worship this thick, zingy and refreshing yogurt dip. At pretty much every meal it will have a place at the table, as this incredibly versatile dip can accompany most dishes!

This is probably one of the first things I ever learnt to make, over the years I have developed and tweaked this recipe passed down from my Yiayia (grandmother). There are thousands of variations of this recipe as every family makes it slightly different but this recipe will never fail to impress!

Ingredients:

• 500g of full fat, plain greek yogurt

• 1 medium cucumber

• 3 cloves of garlic

• 2 tbsp chopped fresh dill

• 2 handfuls of fresh mint leaves

• 1 lemon

• salt

• extra virgin olive oil

Method

Step 1: Chop herbs

Begin by picking the leaves off your mint. Once you have 2 handfuls, with a sharp knife chop the mint to the finest mince you can get it to (almost to a paste). Once a fine mince, chop about 2 tbsp of dill (including the stalks).

*don’t throw away the stalks of the mint, you can use them to make mint tea or mojitos!

Step 2: Add to yogurt

Tip the 500g of greek yogurt to a medium bowl along with your chopped herbs and stir. Then finely grate in 3 cloves of garlic and a generous pinch of salt. Let sit to one side.

Step 3: Grate cucumber

Over a medium bowl grate 1 medium cucumber, once all grated squeeze out the cucumber water then add the grated cucumber to the yogurt mixture.

*you can keep your cucumber water and make cucumber lemonade or even add it to your Gin and Tonic, its 5pm somewhere!

Step 5: Finish Tzatziki

Finish your Tzatziki with a squeeze of lemon, some extra salt and of course a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil!

This is honestly the best accompaniment to most dishes and is an essential at any barbecue!