Recipes / Snacks / Mediterranean Ingredients Servings
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Quantities for 8 servings
400 g feta, crumbled 200 g ricotta 3 large eggs, beaten 3 tbsp chopped dill 2 tbsp chopped flat-leaf parsley 1/2 tsp black pepper A scrape of nutmeg 12 sheets of filo pastry 150 g unsalted butter, melted 2 tbsp olive oil 1 tbsp sesame seeds
Treat this list as a starting point rather than a shopping order. Swap what you haven't got, leave out what you dislike, add what you love — this is exactly the kind of dish that rewards poking around in the fridge.
Method 1 Mash the feta roughly with a fork, leaving it uneven, then stir in the ricotta, eggs, dill, parsley, pepper and nutmeg. Do not add salt — feta brings more than enough. 2 Mix the melted butter with the olive oil. The oil raises the smoke point slightly and stops the top sheets catching before the middle is cooked. 3 Keep the filo under a barely damp tea towel while you work. Exposed to air it goes brittle within a couple of minutes and tears when you lift it. 4 Brush a 30 x 20 cm tin with the butter mixture. Lay in a sheet of filo, letting it come up the sides, and brush it. Repeat with five more sheets, brushing each one. 5 Brush every single sheet, right to the edges. This is the whole technique: the butter between layers turns to steam and pushes them apart, and a dry sheet glues two layers into one thick chewy one. 6 Spread the cheese filling evenly over the base, then layer the remaining six sheets on top, brushing each as before. Tuck the overhanging edges down the sides like sheets on a bed. 7 Score the top layers into squares with a sharp knife before baking, cutting through the pastry but not into the filling. Trying to cut it after baking shatters the top completely. 8 Brush with the last of the butter, scatter the sesame seeds over, and sprinkle with a few drops of water — the steam helps the top blister. 9 Bake at 180°C fan for 40–45 minutes, until deep golden and audibly crisp. Cool for 15 minutes before cutting along the scored lines. Tap a step to cross it off. Your place is saved on this device.
Cook’s notes Greek feta in brine, not the crumbly pre-packed sort. The flavour difference is not subtle.
If your filling seems wet, drain the ricotta in a sieve for 30 minutes first. Wet filling steams the base sheets into a soggy layer.
It reheats well at 170°C for 10 minutes, which is more than can be said for most filo pastry.
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