Maltese Recipes

Maltese food reflects the island's place in the middle of the Mediterranean, with Sicilian and Italian, Arab, North African, British and French influences all visible on one table. Bread, olive oil, tomatoes and sun-dried tomato paste (kunserva), capers, olives, garlic and wild fennel are everyday ingredients, and the sea supplies lampuki (dolphinfish), swordfish, bream and octopus. Rabbit is the island's signature meat, stewed in wine and garlic, while baked pasta pies such as timpana feed family gatherings. Ġbejniet, small sheep and goat cheeses, are eaten fresh or peppered, and ricotta fills the flaky pastizzi sold at every corner. Sweets lean on almonds, dates, honey and citrus: imqaret are fried date pastries, figolli are almond-filled Easter cakes, and qagħaq tal-għasel are Christmas honey rings. Meals are relaxed, and a long Sunday lunch is still the center of family life for many Maltese households.

Staple ingredients

• crusty bread
• olive oil
• tomatoes and tomato paste (kunserva)
• rabbit
• fresh fish such as lampuki
• ricotta and ġbejniet cheese
• capers and olives
• dates and almonds

• Appetizers 1
• Soups 1
• Main Dishes 4
• Desserts 2
• Snacks 2

Appetizers

• Qaqoċċ Mimli (Maltese Stuffed Artichokes)MT1 h 30 minMedium

Soups

• Minestra (Maltese Vegetable Soup)MT1 h 10 minEasy

Main Dishes

• Braġjoli (Maltese Beef Olives in Wine and Tomato Sauce)MT2 h 35 minMedium
• Stuffat tal-Fenek (Maltese Rabbit Stew)MT2 h 10 minMedium
• Timpana (Maltese Baked Macaroni Pie)MT2 h 40 minChallenging
• Torta tal-Lampuki (Maltese Mahi-Mahi and Vegetable Pie)MT2 h 20 minMedium

Desserts

• Imqaret (Maltese Fried Date Pastries)MT1 h 15 minMedium
• Figolli (Maltese Easter Almond-Filled Cakes)MT1 h 30 minMedium

Snacks

• Pastizzi tal-Irkotta (Maltese Ricotta Pastries)MT1 hEasy
• Ħobż biż-Żejt (Maltese Tomato and Tuna Bread)MT20 minEasy