Pite

Ingredients

Dough

• 600 gstrong white flour
• 360 mlwarm water
• 2 tspfine salt
• 3 tbspsunflower oil, plus 100 ml more for stretching and brushing
• 1 tbspwhite vinegar

Cheese filling

• 500 gdjathe i bardhe, or feta, crumbled
• 200 gfresh curd cheese or ricotta
• 3eggs
• 150 mlsparkling water or milk
• 3 tbspsunflower oil
• ½ tspblack pepper

Alternative fillings

• 700 gspinach, wilted, squeezed dry and mixed with 200 g crumbled cheese and 1 chopped onion
• or 800 g pumpkin, coarsely grated, salted, squeezed and mixed with 3 tbsp sugar

To finish

• 100 mlmilk mixed with 1 beaten egg, for the last splash

Directions

1. Mix the flour, warm water, salt, 3 tbsp oil and the vinegar into a soft dough and knead 10 minutes until it is smooth and very elastic. The vinegar relaxes the gluten and is what lets you stretch it thin.
2. Divide into 4 balls, coat them in oil, cover and rest at room temperature for at least 1 hour. Rested dough stretches; unrested dough tears.
3. Cover a large table with a clean cloth and flour it. Roll one ball out as far as you can, then work your oiled hands underneath and stretch it outward from the centre with the backs of your hands until it hangs over the table edges and you can see the cloth through it.
4. Brush the sheet all over with oil. Trim the thick edges and keep them for a second, rustic pie.
5. Beat the filling: cheeses, eggs, sparkling water, oil and pepper, loose enough to spoon but not runny. Do not add salt if you are using feta.
6. Spoon a line of filling along one long edge and roll the sheet up into a long loose rope, keeping air inside it. A tightly rolled pite bakes dense.
7. Coil the rope from the centre outwards in a greased round pan, 32–35 cm, and repeat with the remaining dough until the pan is filled with a spiral. Brush with oil.
8. Bake at 200°C (400°F) for 40–45 minutes until deep gold, crisp and blistered on top and the coils have set.
9. Take it out, splash the egg and milk mixture over the hot pie so it sizzles into the cracks, and return it for 5 minutes.
10. Cover the pan with a clean cloth for 10 minutes before cutting. This traps steam and softens the top just enough to cut cleanly without shattering.

Technique

• Hand-stretched dough is the point. The sheet has to be thin enough to read through, and it is stretched with the backs of the hands, never a rolling pin at the final stage.
• In Kosovo the coil is the household shape; layered rectangular pies of the same dough are also made, and burek is the name generally used for the meatless cheese pie in the region as well.
• The final splash of milk and egg is a Balkan trick that stops the top from being brittle and dry. Skipping it gives a pie that shatters when cut.
• Squeeze the pumpkin or spinach hard. Wet filling steams the pastry from inside and gives a soggy centre.

Substitutions

• No time or nerve for hand-stretching: use good shop-bought filo, 6–8 sheets brushed with oil in pairs. It is thinner and more brittle, so use the milk splash.
• Feta stands in for djathe i bardhe. If it is very salty, soak it 20 minutes in cold water and drain.
• Sparkling water in the filling can be replaced with milk or plain yogurt.

Variations

• Pite me spinaq, the spinach and cheese version, and pite me kungull, the sweet pumpkin one.
• Pite me presh, filled with sliced leek softened in oil, a winter standard.
• Pite me hithra, made with young nettles in spring.

History

Layered pastry with cheese, spinach or meat baked in a round pan and cut into wedges, eaten at any meal.

Frequently asked questions

What is Pite?

Pite is a bread & pastry from Kosovo: hand-stretched phyllo pie with cheese, spinach or pumpkin. Layered pastry with cheese, spinach or meat baked in a round pan and cut into wedges, eaten at any meal.

How long does Pite take to make?

Pite takes 1 hr plus 1 hr resting of preparation and 45 min of cooking. The recipe makes 8 servings. It is rated hard to make.

What can I substitute in Pite?

Yes, within limits. No time or nerve for hand-stretching: use good shop-bought filo, 6–8 sheets brushed with oil in pairs. It is thinner and more brittle, so use the milk splash. Feta stands in for djathe i bardhe. If it is very salty, soak it 20 minutes in cold water and drain. Sparkling water in the filling can be replaced with milk or plain yogurt.

What is the most important thing to get right in Pite?

Beat the filling: cheeses, eggs, sparkling water, oil and pepper, loose enough to spoon but not runny. Do not add salt if you are using feta.