Tiropitakia (little fried cheese pies)
- 1/2 lb feta cheese
- 1 cup grated kefalotiri or 1 cup parmesan cheese
- 1/3 cup chopped parsley (chopped spearmint is also nice)
- 2 eggs
- pepper
- 3/4 cup melted butter (or more)
- 1 lb phyllo dough (pastry sheets)
Directions:
Crumble or mash the feta cheese with a fork. Add the grated cheese, parsley, eggs and pepper. Cut pastry sheets in strips about 2x12 inches. Stack them one on top of the other to prevent From drying. Brush a strip of phyllo with melted butter, lay another strip on top and brush that one with butter too. Put one teaspoon of the filling on the short end of the strip, facing you, and fold over one corner to make a triangle. Continue folding pastry strip from side to side in the shape of a triangle until the entire pastry strip covers the filling. (Remember how we were taught to fold a flag into a triangular shape? Think of that as you keep folding the dough over. You should have a nice, neat, triangular packet.) Proceed in this manner with remaining pastry strips and filling until all are used. Put”tiropitakia” on a buttered baking sheet, brush generously with melted butter and bake in a moderate oven for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown. Serve hot. You can also make these ahead, put on a baking sheet and freeze, unbaked. When frozen, just keep them in a ziploc bag and you can have tiropitakia at a moment’s notice. Just add 5 more minutes to the baking time if you’re using frozen ones.I remember having these the first time I went to Greece around thirteen years ago, it was on an excursion during the holiday and we had stopped on a hillside at a small family run roadside place and they gave us Tiropitakia…I’ve loved them ever since!
jess, if you can read this, this is one for rachel :)