In the Old Town of Rethymnon, in a Venetian mansion with an elaborate marble entrance and with a lintel that reads “The virtue is brightened by the house”, Mr. George Hatziparaskos, still runs his workshop, which produces handmade phyllo and kataifi pastry – the last craftsman of his kind on Crete!
This year, 2017 will be the sixtieth anniversary of when Mr. George, as everyone calls him, first opened his shop, back in 1958 and since then, generations have passed through the doors to see the expert conduct his art, for all to admire, buy and taste.
The workshop still today, uses totally traditional methods, retaining the true handmade craft that his products are renowned for. If you ever go to Rethymnon, it is a stop off on your travels that is most definitely recommended, but is it so hard to make your own traditional pastry, at least on a much smaller scale than in the workshop of George Hatziparaskos?
I have to admit, I haven’t ever tried, as I’ve always found the frozen (or now the fresh) versions available in the supermarkets completely palatable, but a recipe I found recently made me think about at least giving it a try and with visitors that are expected soon from Poland who are both foodies, I might make it an activity to be included during their stay, we will have to see…..
This is the recipe from a blog called “ARTANDKITCHEN” – who is up to the challenge?
Spanakotiropita with Homemade Filo Dough
Servings: 8
Time: 2hr 30mins
Difficulty: medium
Autor: https://artandkitchen.wordpress.com/
You will need:
Filo dough (for 16 sheets for a mold of 35-40 cm)
100 g Greek yogurt
80 g oil
2 eggs
400 g flour, sifted
1 teaspoon baking powder, sifted
Cornstarch (for rolling out)
Spinach filling
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 big onion, peeled and sliced (or 1 sliced onion + 1 leek cleaned sliced9
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1 kg spinach, cleaned, (very) roughly chopped
2 spring onions, sliced
3 tablespoons fresh dill, chopped
20 mint leaves, chopped
3 tablespoons parsley, chopped
salt and pepper to taste
2 eggs, beaten
Assembling
6-8 tablespoons olive oil for the mold and the dough
200 g feta cheese, crumbled
Sesame seeds and black cumin seeds (optional)
Procedure:
Preparing filo sheet
Combine in a mixing bowl or in a food processor yogurt, oil, eggs, flour and baking powder.
Knead for 5 minutes using the food processor (eventually a mixer), or knead by hand for 10 minutes. Add more flour or yogurt (or water) until you get a smooth dough with the consistence as “earlobes” J.
Let the dough rest for at least 30 minutes, but more a few hours would improve the elasticity. In the meanwhile prepare the filling (from step 8 to 11)
Divide the dough into 4 pieces and shape into logs. Divide each log into 4 pieces, forming 16 pieces in total. I made one of the balls little bigger as I wanted to use it for the bottom of the mold.
Roll each piece to circles of the size of dessert dish with your rolling pin dusted with lot of cornstarch.
Stack 4 circles with about 1/2 teaspoon corn starch in between each layer. Do the same with the other ones (4 by 4).
Roll out carefully the first set of 4 circles and applying even pressure on the dough. Flip and stretch any short pieces with your hand. Roll out to the size of the mold (about 35-40 cm) circle are ready to be used, you can simply lift one layer from the other and use it for your favorite filo pastry! Now they should be so thin, that you could read a newspaper through them.
Preparing the filling
While the dough is resting heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large non-sticky pan and sauté the onions and garlic until translucent, about 2-3 minutes.
Add spinach and sauté until soft and the liquid has evaporated.
Remove switch off the heat, let cool down slightly and add herbs. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Finally add the eggs and combine well.
Assembling
Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F.
Oil your mold (about 35-40 cm wide) with olive oil.
Layer the first bigger (about 50-55 cm wide) filo sheet into the mold covering the mold wells as well. Brush with olive oil. Layer other 5 sheets brushing with olive oil in-between.
Layer one third of spinach filling on them and add one third of the crumbled feta cheese.
Layer 3 more filo sheets (brush only lightly with oil in-between).
Add the second third of filling and the second third of cheese.
Layer 3 more filo sheets (brush only lightly with oil in-between).
Add the remaining filling and feta.
Top with the remaining filo sheets (brush each sheets with oil!).
Fold the bottom sheet over the top to seal.
Using a sharp knife, score the upper sheets into portions.
Sprinkle with sesame seeds
Bake for approximately 35-45 minutes at 200°C/400°F until golden brown.
Serve lukewarm or just warm as flavours melt and develop better.
Καλή Επιτυχία!!!
S.K.
in Crete, FOOD and WINE