Friday, January 6, 2012

How to make Tiropitas (cheese pies)

The first time we went to Greece I discovered Cheese Pies (or Tiropitas, as my husband calls them). Love em! They are so good!! When in Greece, I live on them. I'm not a big seafood fan. Especially after seeing them catch the squid and beat them on a rock. (Yup that still bothers me!) Yeah....anyway....Cheese pies are my favorite and here is my recipe.

Ingredients needed:
1 - 16 oz. package of Phyllo #7 (pastry sheets) approx. (12-14) 14" x 18" sheets
1/2 cup butter, melted
8 oz. crumbled feta cheese (I use French feta, given the choice)
16 oz. Ricotta (or you can use cottage cheese instead, if desired)
2 eggs, beaten
1 TBS no-salt seasoning (again - costco carries it)
- optional - 1/3 cup Tzatziki (btw: costco carries a pretty good one!)

Kitchen items needed:
13 x 9 pan
large bowl
mixing spoon
butter brush
large cutting board
sharp knife

Pre-heat oven to 425 degrees

Mix feta cheese, ricotta, egg, tzatziki, and seasonings all up.
Melt the butter in a separate bowl.


OK, now for working with phyllo....
have a large piece of plastic wrap and a damp cloth available. Keep phyllo sheets covered and only remove sheets as needed. Phyllo dries out quick!
Place 2 sheets of phyllo on your cutting board and brush enough butter on the top sheet to cover it. (I know a lot of people do this to each sheet but I only butter every other sheet to cut down on the amount of butter used. Place 2 more sheets on top and repeat.



Cut the sheets in 4 pieces lengthwise.


Place a generous amount of the cheese mixture in the top left corner of the sheet. Repeat for all 4 sheets.


Fold as shown, until each sheet creates a triangle.


Butter the pan and place triangles into pan.


Continue process until all phyllo is used. You will have approximately 12 triangles. Brush butter on top of all the triangles in the pan.

Heat, uncovered, at 425 degrees for 20-25 mins until golden brown.



Enjoy!

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