Light Tiropita / Cheese Pie
This recipe has lightened up on the traditional recipe by using EVOO instead of butter, Egg whites instead of whole eggs, and a few other tricks
Ingredients:
1/2 cup EVOO
1 roll phyllo dough
Basic Tiropita:
5 Egg Whites
1 lb Feta Cheese
1/2 lb Cottage cheese
1 Pinch Pepper (To taste)
For Spinach Pie use basic recipe and add:
1 packaged strained cooked spinach or cook down fresh spinach and strain
For a Desert Pie use basic recipe and add:
1/4 cup honey
1 tbsp lavender flowers
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp cardamom
1/4 cup chopped walnuts
Instructions:
Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.
In a bowl, mash the feta cheese with the cottage cheese, egg whites, pepper.
For the basic tiropita, you are done with the filling. For the spinach, add the spinach to the base. For desert, add the desert ingredients to the base.
For Triangles:
Start by cutting your roll into 2 or 3 even segments to create strips.
Take a strip and roll out your Phyllo dough. Keep a damp cloth handy to cover the filo when you are not using it to prevent drying and cracking.
Take one single strip and apply some EVOO. Add another strip on top of it and add a bit more EVOO.
At one end, add a tbsp of the filling and begin folding over onto itself to create a triangle.
Continue folding over until you reach the end and you have a triangle. Tuck or cut any loose ends.
Brush a bit of EVOO on the finished triangle
If you are making multiple styles, you may want to differentiate between pies by sprinkling sesame seeds or cinnamon.
Lay the pies in an oiled baking tray and bake in the oven for 30 minutes or until brown and crisp.
For a large pan:
apply some EVOO to a baking tray- Lay 3-4 base layers of phyllo dough with light EVOO between each layer
- Add 1/2 your mixture and spread evenly
- Add another 3-4 layers of phyllo dough with light EVOO between each layer
- Add the rest of your mixture and top will last phyllo dough with EVOO between each layer
- Score the pieces before you bake for easy cutting later.