This dish may not be as well known as Greek spanakopita (spinach pie), but it tastes just as good, if not better!

Today we share Yiayia’s classic recipe – with the traditional technique of rolling out the pastry and making the filo from scratch.
This recipe has been in our family for over four generations and is very much loved by all our family members.
For those of you who don’t feel confident enough yet in trying to make your own pastry – you can use commercial filo – a 375 gram pack is ideal – but make sure the fillo is completely thawed before using.

Ingredients

For the pastry:

400g all purpose flour (plus extra to roll out)
1 tablespoon of vinegar
2 tablespoons olive oil
120ml warm water
1/2 teaspoon of salt

For the filling:

4 leeks
1 bunch parsley
4 eggs
400g feta
1/2 cup of semolina
1 cup of olive oil (plus extra for drizzling)
salt and pepper to taste

Method

For the pastry (Part 1):

1. In a large bowl mix the flour with the salt, vinegar and olive oil and place warm water in the middle of the mixture.
2. Knead the dough well and then divide into six equal parts.
3. Leave for 1/2 hour covered in cling wrap to rest.
In the meantime you can prepare the filling:
1. Clean the leeks and parsley and cut into 1/2cm pieces.
2. Place in a deep large bowl and add salt, pepper, eggs, semolina, olive oil and grate the feta cheese on top.
3. Mix the filling thoroughly and set aside.

For the pastry (Part 2):

1. Lightly sprinkle flour on the surface you will be using to roll out the dough (so the pastry won’t stick).
2. Flatten the balls one by one and begin rolling them out slowly using a large rolling pin, they should end up being about 60cm in diameter.
3. Make sure you continue lightly sprinkling flour between each filo you roll out so they do not stick together.
Placing it all together:
1. Lightly drizzle olive oil in your baking dish (Mum uses a round one but square will do) and place one of the filo pastries in the dish.
2. Lightly drizzle more olive oil and place the second sheet of filo.
3. Spread one third of your filling you have prepared evenly over the surface.
4. Add another layer of filo pastry and spread 1/2 of the remaining mixture.
5. Place another layer of filo and remaining mixture.
6. Add the final two layers of pastry and drizzle lightly with olive oil. Fold the edges in.
7. Place in preheated moderate oven and bake for about 45 minutes at 200°C.

For more information and recipes, go to the website: www.flavoursandflair.com