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Middle Eastern Marinated Feta

Middle Eastern Marinated Feta

The perfect snack on a hot summer's day.  Add it to your meze platters for a great casual way to entertain.  Cubed feta and shallots are marinated in olive oil, chili, mint, oregano and lemon. The marinade is amazing on it's own to be sopped up with pita bread, or to turn into a salad dressing later on!

Course Appetizer
Prep Time 20 minutes
Resting Time 2 hours
Servings 6

Ingredients

  • 12-14 oz Bulgarian Feta or any other good quality Feta that isn't too soft or creamy
  • 1 1/2-2 cups extra virgin olive oil This will depend on how large the dish you will be marinating is. You want to cover the cheese ideally
  • 1-2 tbsp Asian chili garlic sauce (adjust, depending on how hot you would like it) If you can't find this, then increase the chili pepper and garlic below
  • 1 clove of garlic minced
  • 1/2 small red chili pepper finely diced
  • 2 large thick slices preserved lemon finely diced, see Notes below
  • 3 shallots sliced cross-wise into thin rings
  • 1/2 cup packed finely chopped mint and oregano combined. You can replace the oregano with cilantro or parsley if you can't find the oregano.
  • large pinch fresh cracked black pepper

Instructions

  1. Cut the feta in half. And then cut each half into 1 inch cubes. Place these in a wide shallow dish or container that will allow the marinade to puddle around each piece and up the sides.

  2. Combine all the rest of the ingredients in a bowl and whisk till well blended.

  3. Pour this marinade over the feta. Cover the dish with a lid or plastic wrap. Allow it to marinade for at least 2 hours.

  4. Serve in the same dish if you like it, or transfer the cheese and much of the marinade to a lovely shallow serving plate.  Scatter fresh cracked black pepper over everything before serving.

  5. Serve with pita bread, on the side with hummus, wrapped stuffed grape leaves, grilled meats, crudités etc.

Recipe Notes

You can replace the preserved lemon with the zest of 1-2 lemons, and the juice of 1/2 lemon. If you are doing this, then add 1/2 tsp of salt as well.

Any leftover marinade makes for a lovely dressing thinned out with some more lemon juice or sherry vinegar.

Or use it as a marinade for grilled chicken or pork.

The feta and marinade will keep in the fridge for at least 1 week.