Savory Filo Pie With Cheese Recipes

SAVORY FILO PIE WITH CHEESE

Steps:

• Mix and combine cottage or ricotta cheese, sea salt and eggs with a fork.
• On a clean surface lay out a sheet of filo pastry and sprinkle with some mineral water and sunflower oil. Fold the sheet in half on the long side and smear a tablespoon of the cheese mixture over it. Starting from the long end, roll the sheet loosely over the filling until you have a long filo crepe. Do not press or squeeze - leave the room for the cheese and eggs to spread while baking. Slowly twist the crepe round and round to form a spiral. Repeat for the remaining mixture - should make between 10 and 12 spirals.
• Place one spiral quite near another in a shallow, greased oven proof dish. Do not squeeze them together. Leave enough space for the pie to expand during baking.
• Mix and combine the remaining filling and oil with sour cream. Smear the top of each spiral with this mixture.
• Bake in the oven at 200°C for 40 minutes. After 20 minutes, if the pie top browns too quickly, cover with Alu foil.
• Cool the pie a little, divide into pieces and serve with yogurt, kefir or alone.

SAVORY FILO PIE WITH ZUCCHINI AND FETA

Steps:

• Remove the filo from the refrigerator. Grate the zucchini using the large holes of a grater. Place it in a colander and sprinkle with ¼ tsp. of salt. Let it sit for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. After 20 minutes, squeeze the zucchini between the palms of your hands to remove all the excess water. This is necessary so your filo does not get soggy (as a reference, I was able to remove about a cup of liquid from mine). Place the drained zucchini in a medium bowl.
• Chop the green onions, mince the dill and crumble the Feta. Add them to the bowl with the zucchini then stir in the yogurt, olive oil, lemon zest, spearmint, salt and pepper. Stir gently to incorporate and set aside. If there is time, refrigerate the mixture for 20-30 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 375° F. Line a 10" springform pan with a piece of parchment paper and secure it to the top edges of the side with clips (a regular 10" tart pan can be used as well as long as the sides are about 2" tall.).
• Open your room-temperature filo. Unroll it and place it on a clean surface. Position the long side in front of you. The filo will measure 13" x 18". Cut through the center of the stack of filo so you have a 13" x 9" stack. You will need only half of the package (8oz.), so cover the remainder well and refrigerate it.
• Take two filo sheets and place the springform pan on top of them. With a sharp knife, cut the filo around the pan so you have two round pieces of filo. Brush a little olive oil on each of them and stack them at the bottom of the pan (they will form the base of the filo pie).
• Brush three sheets of filo lightly with olive oil and stack then on top of each other. Spread about 3 TBSP. the filling on the top layer of the filo stack, using the back of a spoon (do not worry if it is not spread evenly). Gently scrunch the filo lengthwise to create a pleat (see photos). Once it is all scrunched, form a small coil and place the coiled and filled filo in the center of the pan. Repeat this spread/scrunch/coil process with a second stack of three layers of filo, and add this to the end of the first coil in the pan so that your coil is expanding from the center of the pan outward (see photos). Continue with the same process until you have created three additional pleated filo stacks and you run out of the filling. If there are any visible gaps, use some pieces of filo to fill them out.
• Brush the top of the pleated filo tart lightly with olive oil and bake for about an hour. Half way through baking, gently lift the tart to ensure that the bottom is cooking evenly. If it is not, place the pan on the lower rack for the remainder of the cooking time.
• When the tart is ready, the top should look golden brown and crispy. If necessary, cook for a few more minutes to get it to the right color. Remove the pan and place the tart on a rack to cool down slightly until you can handle it. At that point, open the springform pan and slide the filo tart directly to the rack to cool off completely.

VEGETABLE FILO PIE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease a 9x13 inch casserole dish with olive oil.
• Place vegetables in a steamer over 1 inch of boiling water, and cover. Cook until tender but still firm, about 2 to 6 minutes; drain.
• Meanwhile, in a large bowl combine egg, 1 tablespoon olive oil, garlic, feta cheese and melted butter. Stir in salt, pepper, dill and onion powder. Fold steamed vegetables into egg mixture.
• Lay 4 sheets phyllo dough in the prepared dish and brush with olive oil. Lay 4 more sheets of dough in the dish, so that the edges overlap in the pan but most of the dough extends beyond the sides of the dish.
• Spoon vegetable mixture into dish and fold dough across the top. Brush with olive oil.
• Bake in preheated oven for 30 to 35 minutes.