Name: Kagianas or Strapatsada
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 45 min
Total time: 1 h
Yield: 4
Cuisine: Greek Cuisine
Ingredients: 1/3 cup olive oil; 8 medium - ripe tomatoes, peeled and cubed; 8 eggs; Salt; Freshly ground black pepper; 1/2 tsp oregano; 2 basil leaves, finely chopped (optional); 1/2 cup crumbled feta (optional)

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Kagianas (also called strapatsada), is a Greek summer side dish from Arcadia and is ideal to accompany BBQ and grilled meat dishes.

Etymology

The Greek word “kagianas” (καγιανάς, pr. kah-ghia-NAS) comes from the Turkish word kaygana which derives from the Persian word خاگینه khâgine, which means omelet.

This could have been their breakfast or main meal served with some Greek salad and lots of crusty bread. Nowadays it is usually served as a side dish or an appetizer and is ideal to accompany BBQ and grilled meat dishes.

This dish, which at the Ionian islands is called strapatsada, took its name from the Italian verb strapazzare, which means to handle roughly (to beat).

In other parts of Greece it is called Kagianas, Kaikanas or just tomatoes with eggs, as we used to call it in Cyprus.

It is a traditional Greek summer dish from Arcadia where poor people would eat out of the products they had at hand. Some tomatoes from their garden and eggs from their hens.

How to make Kagianas

It is best to cube the tomatoes into small pieces rather than grating or puréing them in a food processor so as to have some pieces of tomatoes in the dish.

After you peel them and cut them, put them in a colander with some salt sprinkled on top, so as to get some of the water out, otherwise you will be cooking it for much more time.

Fresh tomatoes are pealed easily if we score a shallow cross into the bottom of the tomato and put them in hot water for a few minutes.

The skin will be removed easily.

In Cyprus my mother would make a sweet version of kaikanas which we ate as a dessert but it’s nothing like this food as it resembles more like an omelet or a crepe rather than scrambled eggs.

Kagianas or Strapatsada

Yield: 4

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 45 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour

Kagianas (also called strapatsada), is a Greek summer side dish from Arcadia and is ideal to accompany BBQ and grilled meat dishes.

Ingredients

1/3 cup olive oil
8 medium - ripe tomatoes, peeled and cubed
8 eggs
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1/2 tsp oregano
2 basil leaves, finely chopped (optional)
1/2 cup crumbled feta (optional)

Instructions

Score an X on the back of the tomatoes.
Put them in hot water and blanch them for 2 - 3 minutes
Put them in cold water and peel them.
Chop them into small pieces and put them in a colander with salt until most of the water is drained.
Heat the olive oil in a skillet or non-stick pan and add the tomatoes.
Keep mixing until all the juices have evaporated and it become a dense sauce.
Add salt, pepper, basil and oregano.
Add the eggs to the mixture and mix well until the eggs are cooked.
Finally crumble some feta and mix.
Serve with a Greek Salad and crusty bread.

Nutrition Information

Yield 4 Serving Size 1
Amount Per Serving Calories 396Total Fat 32gSaturated Fat 8gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 22gCholesterol 389mgSodium 472mgCarbohydrates 12gFiber 3gSugar 8gProtein 17g