This weekend, travel to Greece without leaving Hawaii at the 33rd annual Greek Festival, noon to 9 p.m. Saturday and Sunday at Ala Moana Beach Park’s McCoy Pavilion.

Sample traditional food, shop for imported Greek and deli products at the festival’s bazaar, and enjoy traditional entertainment.

Admission is $3; children and military are free. Visit GreekFestivalHawaii.com.

This week, gear up with these recipes:

Tiropites (Greek Cheese Pie)
16 ounces feta cheese, crumbled
4 ounces (1/2 block) cream cheese
1 ounce crumbled blue cheese
6 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
1 pint Greek yogurt, drained overnight
4 large eggs, lightly beaten
2 pounds phyllo pastry sheets
Unsalted butter, melted

Heat oven to 350 degrees and lightly grease 2 baking sheets.

In large bowl, combine cheeses and yogurt; mix well. Add eggs and mix with spoon until mixture is loose but still lumpy.

Unwrap phyllo and cut sheets in half lengthwise. Cover one stack with damp paper towels until ready to use.

Remove sheet from uncovered stack and brush with butter, using pastry brush, taking care not to tear dough.

Position sheet vertically and drop 1 tablespoon filling 2 inches from bottom edge, at center. Fold bottom edge up to cover filling. Fold left edge to center, creating a flap about 2 inches wide. Fold right edge over left flap, but do not pass left edge. This results in a strip about 3 inches wide.

Starting with lower left corner, fold over to the right edge to form a triangle. Continue folding up, then over, maintaining the triangle.

Repeat with remaining filling and dough sheets.

Place triangles on baking sheets and brush with butter. Bake until golden and flaky, about 15 minutes. Cool 5 minutes before serving. Makes about 60 triangles.

Approximate nutritional information, per tiropites (assumes 1 tablespoon unsalted butter per phyllo sheet): 160 calories, 12 g fat, 7 g saturated fat, 45 mg cholesterol, 200 mg sodium, 9 g carbohydrate, no fiber, 1 g sugar, 4 g protein

Domates Yemistes (Greek Stuffed Tomatoes)
6 large tomatoes
6 teaspoons sugar
3 medium zucchini
1 pound ground beef
1/2 cup olive oil, plus more for drizzling
1 large onion, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup fresh parsley, minced
6 tablespoons uncooked rice
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1/2 cup tomato sauce
Pinch ground nutmeg
Salt and pepper, to taste
3 large potatoes, peeled and sliced in wedges
1/2 cup breadcrumbs
6 pats butter or margarine

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Slice off tops of tomatoes and scoop out flesh, being careful not to puncture skin. Reserve tops and flesh. Sprinkle inside of each tomato with 1 teaspoon sugar.

Slice zucchini lengthwise and scoop out flesh. Add tomato and zucchini flesh to a food processor and pulse to chunky liquid consistency. Set aside.

In large skillet on medium high, brown beef until cooked through. Add olive oil, onion and garlic. Saute 3 to 4 minutes, until onions are translucent and garlic is fragrant.

Add parsley, rice, half of tomato-zucchini puree, tomato paste and tomato sauce. Season with nutmeg, salt and pepper. Simmer and reduce sauce.

Drizzle olive oil into bottom of rectangular pan. Set tomatoes and zucchini in the pan, using potato wedges to keep them upright. Stuff vegetables about 3/4 full and top with breadcrumbs. Place pat of butter on each and season with salt and pepper. Pour remaining puree into bottom of pan.

Bake 1 hour or until vegetables are tender. Serves 8.

Approximate nutritional information, per serving (not including drizzled oil or salt to taste): 550 calories, 28 g fat, 8 g saturated fat, 50 mg cholesterol, 300 mg sodium, 60 g carbohydrate, 6 g fiber, 22 g sugar, 18 g protein

More Hawaiian Electric Co. recipes are available at www.hawaiianelectric.com.