Tricks for Modern Mediterranean Cooking from Georgina Hayden

Don’t cook down the spinach before making spanakopita!

You can skim through Georgina Hayden’s newest book for sun-splashed, easy dinner ideas, but it’s worth looking closer, because MEDesque is also packed with tips that’ll change your cooking.

In her riff on spanakopita, for example, you’ll find “a method of wilting the spinach that my granny taught me,” Georgina says in this week’s podcast conversation.

You don’t start by cooking the spinach in a pan or in the microwave—you simply salt it to get rid of the moisture.

“Put it in a colander,” she instructs, add some salt, and leave it for 10 minutes. Then “start scrunching—get in there and keep going and get that salt into those leaves.” It’ll shrink down as much as it would in a pan, “but you’re not losing the flavor…It’s still super vibrant and green.”

Granny advice aside, Georgina says this book is much less traditional than some of her previous cookbooks, like Taverna and Nistisima. These recipes reflect the way she really cooks at home now: she’s inspired by Mediterranean dishes and ingredients, but driven by cravings and drawn to dinners that are simple and conscious of not wasting anything good.

Take Georgina’s antipasti salad, for example. She says, “It’s essentially all the bits and bobs in my store cupboard. I always have orzo pasta…And then I’ll just add in whatever antipasti I’ve got. I’ve always got things like olives and sun-dried tomatoes or artichokes or peppers. I mean, you can use what you have. And in the book, I’m very loose with that because, you know, I’m all about using things up and not having to go out and buy stuff.” (I tried it with a few spicy pickled peppers, and I highly recommend that move.) She adds jarred chickpeas and brings it all together with a drizzle of oil and a flurry of Parmesan.

But before you reach for a bottle of olive oil, she urges you to look at what’s left in the jars of sun-dried tomato and artichokes. The oil in the jar has “so much flavor!” she says.

Scroll down for all the details on this delicious and flexible meal, but while you’re here, be sure to download my full conversation with Georgina so you can listen while you cook.

MEDesque is the book you’re going to reach for this summer whenever you’re entertaining or stumped for flavorful weeknight meals. And I want you to win a copy…

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• Rebecca Firkser’s Best Advice for Cooking on a Budget

• Use Up That Vegetable Box With Joe Woodhouse

• How Chef Vivian Howard Juggles Dinner When Time Is Tight

• Reilly Meehan Shares What Private Chefs Really Cook

Georgina mentioned:

• Alexandra Dudley’s confit vegetables from Cooking Made Simple

• Bold Bean Co.

• Nduja (Georgina buys from Natoora; here’s another option for US)

• Belazu Apricot Harissa (currently out of stock) / Rose Harissa

• Ajvar—Georgina buys Odysea and Pelagonia

• Spanakopita from Taverna

• One-pan ’nduja, pepper and three cheese lasagne recipe

• One-pan moussaka

• Gilda butter (IG)

• Roast spatchcocked chicken with bread (IG)

• Tessa Kiros’ Falling Cloudberries (Thriftbooks)

• Edd Kimber’s Chocolate Baking (Bookshop)

• Jamie Oliver’s Jamie at Home (Thriftbooks)

From the ad break:

• TCHO Chocolate: If you’re a chef, baker, or maker in the sweets business, request a chocolate sample at TCHOpro.com

• Made In Cookware: Visit madein.cc/dinnerplan to unlock your discount offer.

• Straus Family Creamery: Find Straus organic ice cream at Whole Foods nationwide or at strausfamilycreamery.com.

Maggie mentioned:

• Fresh corn cakes with crab-tomato salad from Food52 Mighty Salads

• Georgina’s first book: Stirring Slowly (Bookshop here)

Photo: Laura Edwards

Antipasti Pasta Salad

Excerpted from MEDesque: Everyday Recipes with Mediterranean Roots. Used with the permission of the publisher, Bloomsbury. Text copyright © 2026 by Georgina Hayden.

This is both a champion crowd-pleaser and, best of all, a fridge-clearer. The dressing is made from the oil of the jarred and marinated vegetables, and you can use any of those you like, or any chopped herbs you have. It doesn’t matter if you only have a few artichokes, or more sun-dried tomatoes, or basil instead of parsley. Put it all in. It will still taste great.

Serves 4 as an entrée, or more as part of a spread

• 1⅓ cups orzo (gluten-free, if needed)

• Scant 1 cup (about 12) sun-dried tomatoes, plus the oil from the jar

• 6 whole grilled artichoke hearts, plus the oil from the jar

• ⅓ cup roasted red peppers (in strips from a jar)

• ½ cup pitted black olives

• 3 tablespoons nonpareil capers

• 15 oz can of chickpeas

• 3 oz (about ¾ cup grated) Parmesan (or vegetarian alternative, if needed)

• Extra virgin olive oil

• Handful of Italian parsley leaves

• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

1. Bring a large saucepan of salted water to a boil over a high heat. Add the orzo and cook following the package instructions, then check to see that it has cooked through thoroughly, with no firm core. If it’s still a bit hard, cook it for a minute or so more, because you really don’t want al dente orzo for this dish.

2. While that is happening, chop the sun-dried tomatoes, artichokes and roasted red peppers into small pieces, around ½ inch, and put them in a large bowl. Roughly chop the olives and add to the bowl along with the capers. Drain and rinse the chickpeas and add to the bowl; coarsely grate or shave the Parmesan and (you guessed it) add to the bowl. Add ¼ cup of oil from the sun-dried tomatoes or artichoke jar. If you don’t have as much as that, make it up with some extra virgin olive oil. Finely chop the parsley and set aside.

3. When the orzo is cooked, drain it, refresh it a little under a cold tap so it’s not burning hot, then shake off the excess water. Add the pasta to the antipasti and toss to combine, adding more oil as necessary. Taste and adjust the seasoning. If you are not serving this straight away, cool the pasta down completely. Just before serving, toss through the parsley.