Tiropita (Greek Savoury Cheese Pie)
photo by Carla t
- Ready In:
- 1hr 20mins
- Ingredients:
- 9
- Serves:
-
12-15
ingredients
- 1 (1 lb) package frozen phyllo dough
- 6 tablespoons butter
- 1⁄2 cup flour
- 1⁄3 cup milk
- 6 eggs
- 3⁄4 lb feta cheese, crumbled
- 1 1 cup kefalograviera cheese or 1 cup regato cheese
- 2 cups ricotta cheese (or anthotiro or cottage cheese)
- 8 ounces butter, melted
directions
- Thaw phyllo dough completely.
- Melt the 6 tablespoons butter in a large saucepan.
- Whisk in the flour and cook slightly (1-2 minutes) to get rid of 'raw' flour taste.
- Slowly whisk in the milk.
- Cook over medium heat, whisking constantly, until sauce thickens.
- Remove from heat and let cool for 10 minutes.
- Quickly whisk the eggs into the sauce one at a time.
- Then stir in the cheese.
- Preheat oven to 375°F.
- Butter a 13 X 9" Pyrex baking dish generously (you can also use a larger baking pan - the tiropita just comes out a little thinner, but is nicer for appetizer servings).
- Flatten phyllo dough and cover with a sheet of wax paper and a lightly dampened towel (to avoid drying out).
- Take one sheet at a time and place in baking dish.
- Brush phyllo generously with butter.
- Use about 6 sheets this way and then add 1/2 of cheese filling.
- Layer 3 more sheets of phyllo (brushing each one with butter) and then top with remaining cheese filling.
- Finally, layer 6 sheets of phyllo over top (brushing each one with butter) and fold in the edges to make the tiropita look neat.
- Brush top generously with remaining butter.
- Score top of phyllo carefully with the point of a sharp knife, just cutting through pastry (only cut through the top layers of pastry, do not cut all the way down to the bottom layer), into the size of pieces you will want to serve.
- Make sure you don't cut right through pie.
- Bake for about 45 minutes to one hour, or until golden brown.
- (Make sure bottom crust is nice and golden- if it isn't- put it directly on floor of oven for about 10 minutes to brown faster. You don't want a soggy, uncooked bottom pastry).
- Variation: I often add 8 oz. of a good-quality, chopped, smoked ham to the cheese filling.
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Reviews
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Not sure why there are so many raving reviews and only one other reviewer caught the fatal flaw to this dish: incorrect amount of milk. Google other tiropita (or any other Greek dish that requires a bechamel) recipes and you will notice that the ratio of flour to milk is off in this specific one. At the very least you need to use 1.5 cups of milk (at the most 2) to pull this off.
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My BFs family is Greek, and last week we went to our towns Greek fest, but we're only able to go one day to work schedules. We were slightly bummed we only got to get Tiropita once, and it's one of their favorites! I found this recipe online, and made it this afternoon. It came out simple amazing, and even better then the one we bought for $4 a piece at the festival! I had to use more milk because my "sauce" was too thick, and I didn't have any parm cheese on hand, only romano. The romano cheese might of added a little bit more salt, but we loved it! I will definitely be making this for years to come, and probably for every holiday coming up!
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OK, here goes. I live in Athens, Greece. I moved out here many, many years ago from Ottawa, Canada - so I am blessed in having two wonderful heritages!
I suffer from compulsive obsessive behaviour with regard to food and my psychiatrist thought it would be a good idea to find a 'society' where many have the same problem and try to find a cure.
So far, I've copied a couple of thousand recipes from this site and my psychiatrist has thrown the towel in and refuses to answer the phone when I call.
What did I do wrong?
Got 3 kids that keep me on the go - 10 and under at this point (2008) - I may not get round to updating this for a few years, so you'll have to do your own maths.
I teach English full-time and Greek Cookery part-time. I would like to make the cooking part of it full-time and the English Grammar part of it part-time.
That's all for now.