Tiropita

Ingredients

Filling

• 400 gfeta, crumbled
• 150 ganthotyro, ricotta or mizithra
• 100 ggrated kefalotyri or graviera
• 3eggs
• 3 tbspchopped mint or dill, optional
• black pepper
• grated nutmeg
• 2 tbspsemolina or breadcrumbs

Pastry

• 450 gfilo pastry
• 150 gmelted butter, or a mix of butter and olive oil

To finish

• sesame seeds

To serve

• warm, from a bakery bag, in the morning

Directions

1. Use three cheeses doing three different jobs. Feta gives the salt and the tang, a soft fresh cheese like anthotyro or ricotta gives creaminess and bulk, and a hard cheese like kefalotyri gives depth and savour.
2. Taste the feta first, and soak it in cold water for an hour if it is very salty. Crumble the feta by hand rather than blending it. Hand-crumbling leaves pieces of different sizes, which gives a better texture than a smooth paste.
3. Mix all three cheeses with the eggs and pepper. It will almost certainly need none, and adding salt out of habit is how tiropita is ruined. Add nutmeg and a little mint or dill if you like, though many bakery versions are plain cheese and egg.
4. Stir a couple of spoonfuls of semolina or fine breadcrumbs into the filling. It absorbs the moisture the cheese releases as it heats, which is what stops the filling weeping out and making the base soggy.
5. Keep the stack covered with a damp tea towel at all times, uncovering only the sheet you are working with. Filo dries out within a minute of exposure and then shatters into useless flakes, and the damp cloth solves this entirely.
6. Brush each sheet with melted butter before laying the next. Brush every sheet, right to the edges. Cut the filo into long strips about 10 cm wide, taking two sheets at a time. Brush a strip with butter and put a spoonful of filling at one end. Now fold the corner over diagonally to make a triangle, then keep folding along the strip, corner to corner.
7. Line each fold up exactly with the last, which is what gives a neat sealed triangle rather than a lumpy parcel. Do not overfill. Scatter sesame seeds over the top. Score the top layers into portions before baking. Bake at 180°C (355°F) for 25 to 30 minutes until deep golden and crisp.
8. Bake it properly. A pale tiropita is soggy underneath, and the base must be as cooked as the top. Let them cool for 10 minutes before eating. Serve them warm rather than piping hot, which is when the flavour is best.

Technique

• Spanakopita is the spinach version and uses the same pastry technique.
• Bakery tiropita is usually plainer than homemade, with just cheese and egg.
• They freeze raw and bake from frozen.

Substitutions

• Ricotta in place of anthotyro or mizithra.
• Pecorino or parmesan in place of kefalotyri.

Variations

• Made as a large tray pie.
• With mint through the filling.
• Kourou tiropita, made with a soft yoghurt pastry instead of filo.

History

Cheese pie made with paper-thin filo, sold from bakeries as a morning snack across Greece.

Frequently asked questions

What is Tiropita?

Tiropita is a bread & pastry from Greece: flaky cheese-filled phyllo pastry. Cheese pie made with paper-thin filo, sold from bakeries as a morning snack across Greece.

How long does Tiropita take to make?

Tiropita takes 45 min of preparation and 30 min of cooking. The recipe makes 24 triangles. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Tiropita?

Yes, within limits. Ricotta in place of anthotyro or mizithra. Pecorino or parmesan in place of kefalotyri.

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

Taste the feta first, and soak it in cold water for an hour if it is very salty. Crumble the feta by hand rather than blending it. Hand-crumbling leaves pieces of different sizes, which gives a better texture than a smooth paste.