099Chios mastelo, baked cheese

Method

Oven-baked with ripe tomatoes and oregano. Must be eaten hot before the cheese tightens.

You will need

• Earthenware baking dish
• Pastry brush
• Cutting board

1. Preheat a conventional oven to 200°C (400°F). 10 min · 200°C / 400°F Ready when: oven is fully preheated
2. Lightly brush an earthenware or shallow ceramic baking dish with a teaspoon of the olive oil and arrange the tomato slices across the base. 3 min Ready when: bottom of dish is covered in tomato
3. Place the slabs of mastelo cheese directly over the tomato layer, leaving a small space between slices. 2 min Ready when: cheese is arranged flat
4. Drizzle the remaining olive oil over the cheese and season with the dried oregano and black pepper. 1 min Ready when: cheese is evenly dressed
5. Bake in the preheated oven for 12 to 15 minutes, or switch the grill on for the final two minutes, until the cheese has softened and the top displays rich golden patches. 14 min · 200°C / 400°F Ready when: surface blistered and golden, cheese yielding to touch
6. Remove from the oven and serve immediately with fresh lemon wedges and crusty bread while hot and molten. Ready when: steaming hot

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Make ahead and storing

Can be assembled in the baking dish up to 2 hours ahead and kept chilled before baking.

Best enjoyed freshly baked; leftovers can be re-warmed in a dry skillet the next day.

Substitutions

• halloumi or formaela for Mastelo cheese (cow or goat). Both cheeses share the non-melting, squeaky structure of mastelo.

Common mistakes

• Letting the baked cheese sit before serving. Semi-hard grilling cheeses quickly firm up and turn rubbery as they cool.
• Adding salt. Mastelo is already brine-salted; adding extra salt ruins the sweet dairy profile.

Regional variants

• In Chian tavernas, it is equally common to sear mastelo dry on a smoking-hot cast-iron griddle without tomatoes, drizzling it with local citrus spoon sweet.

About the dish

Mastelo is a modern trademarked cow's- or goat's-milk cheese produced on the eastern Aegean island of Chios, though its name stems from the Venetian wooden bucket (mastello) used for milk collection during Genoese and Venetian rule. With its springy texture, mild milky saltiness and high melting threshold, mastelo is universally cooked rather than eaten raw. When baked or griddled in thick slabs, it softens luxuriously inside while developing a golden, caramelised crust, often complemented by sweet fruit preserves or fresh tomatoes.

Found in North Aegean. Cooked for everyday, summer, sunday lunch.

Cousins elsewhere

• Grilled halloumi (Cypriot). Both are semihard brined cheeses with high melting points that hold their shape over direct heat.
• Grilled jibneh arabieh (Levantine). Mild white cheeses grilled or baked until browned on the exterior while remaining soft inside.

Nutrition per serving (estimate)

388 kcal · protein 20.6 g · fat 33 g (saturated 17.5 g) · carbohydrate 3.6 g (sugars 2.1 g) · fibre 0.9 g · sodium 683 mg

An estimate (summed from ingredient estimates) that varies with the exact ingredients. It is not dietary advice.

Written fresh by Epikouria editors from general culinary tradition. Recipe by the Epikouria editors. Traditional taverna oven-saganaki method favoured on Chios and neighbouring eastern Aegean islands..

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