Savoury Greek Cheesecake

I really love when people find time to comment on our blog and develop our recipes even further. This was the case of our very first blog post: the cheesecake recipe. Alexandra, my dear biotec-friend, made a savoury version of it and posted it on the blog. After over two years, I’ve decided to give it a try and modified it to my needs and taste. It was a blast and I want to share it with you!

The cheesecake recipe and the Cranachan cheesecake are both so called “mothership” recipes, as basically everything we write. You do not have to follow the recipe ingredient per ingredient or step-by-step if you do not want to. You should feel inspired and develop your own versions to become more and more indipendent in the kitchen. The same, by the way, is true for coaching strength training: we will give you the tools to build your own training and the motivation to implement it as a routine. But let’s get back to cooking. Here are some advices in regard to the ingredients.

The only two essential ingredients are eggs and curd (or any other high protein, low-ish fat cheese). The other ones are completely free to your taste, therefore you can easily turn this recipe into a vegetarian version by adding for example smoked tofu, (parboiled) lentils or granulated soya instead of the minced beef. The original by Alexandra called for canned tuna, which is also a great, cheap and very quick protein source, which you do not have to cook extra as the minced beef. I recommend by the way to fry your meat in the pan to add more flavour and be sure that it is properly cooked.

The oats are not essential but I simply love them and I have a hard time hitting my carbs. They also soak up some of the excess moisture making the cheesecake a bit dryer and easier to handle if you have to carry it with you at work for lunch. Go for a gluten-free version (why not polenta or buckwheat?) if you need to.

I am currently totally into mediterranean flavours that’s why I’ve chosen dried tomatoes, feta, tomato paste and oregano, but you could go nordic by using dill and salmon or maybe experiment with a good curry powder and lentils? Whatever you do, please share it whith us, please! We enjoy trying new flavour combinations a lot 🙂 Last advice: don’t be shy with flavouring. Add a big bunch of spices. Curd and eggs absorb a lot of the flavour!

Ingredients

• 330g eggs (approx. 6 eggs size L)
• 375g minced beef (15g protein, 20g fat in this recipe)
• 150g oats
• 1kg 0,2% fat curd (“Topfen”, “Quark” or other low fat, high protein fresh cheese, not too moist)
• 125g dried tomatoes (without oil)
• 180g low (9%) fat feta cheese
• 50g tomato paste
• salt, pepper, spices and herbs to your liking; I used just a lot of oregano.

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 160°C.
2. Fry the minced beef in a pan without fat until it forms a nice brown crust. Put aside to cool.
3. Beat the eggs with the curd, salt, pepper and spices until smooth.
4. Add the minced beef and all the other ingredients except the feta.
5. Pour in an appropriate baking dish lined with parchment paper. Mine was 32x22cm.
6. Crumble the feta over the batter and put the savoury cheesecake in the oven.
7. Bake for 1h 15min without fan or 1h with fan. Leave it to cool a little bit before removing it from the baking dish.
8. Serve warm or let it cool completely on a grid. Store in the fridge for 4-5 days or freeze it already portioned.

Macros

If divided in 8 pieces, the cheesecake has following macros:

• 372kcal
• 38,6g protein
• 19,6g carbs
• 16,6g fat

To be honest, I could not believe it that this rich dish, with feta and a fat minced beef cut is pretty low in calories. The amount of protein is very reasonable too and enough for my current macros. If you need more protein just divide the cake in six pieces. You can also choose protein-richer meat cuts with less fat. Do not forget to add a nice portion of veggies and you have a complete meal that you can fully enjoy regardless if you are bulking or cutting.