Tiropetes Recipes

TIROPETES

Steps:

• Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in the flour until smooth. Gradually stir in the hot milk so that no lumps form. Cook, stirring constantly, until the sauce thickens enough to coat a metal spoon. Season with salt and white pepper, remove from the heat and set aside to cool.
• When the sauce is cooled, stir in the feta cheese, egg yolks, Monterey jack cheese, 3 tablespoons melted butter and parsley.
• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Cut the sheets of phyllo dough into strips about 3 inches wide. Use one stack at a time, covering the rest with a damp towel to keep them from drying out.
• Lay out one piece of phyllo at a time. Brush with butter, and place about 1 teaspoon of the cheese mixture on one end. Fold one corner up to match the other edge. Continue folding in triangle shape until you reach the end of the strip. Place on a baking sheet, and continue with the remaining strips of dough.
• Bake for 15 to 20 minutes in the preheated oven, or until golden brown. These can also be prepared ahead of time, and frozen after folding. Bake when ready to serve.

TIROPITA

Steps:

• Melt 6 tablespoons butter in small saucepan over medium-low heat. Whisk in the flour until smooth and cook, stirring constantly, for 2 minutes. Gradually pour in the milk, stirring constantly with a whisk or wooden spoon. Add the salt and nutmeg, stirring occasionally, until mixture is bubbly and thickened, 5 to 10 minutes.
• Mash the feta cheese with a fork in a bowl and stir in the grated kefalotiri, beaten eggs, and parsley. Pour in the hot white sauce and mix well.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Butter a 9x13-inch baking dish.
• Line the buttered baking dish with a sheet of phyllo dough and brush it with melted butter; keep the remaining phyllo sheets covered with plastic wrap while you work. Repeat with half of the phyllo sheets, brushing each sheet with butter, and letting them come up the sides of the baking dish. Pour in the cheese filling.
• Lay the remaining pastry sheets on top of the filling, brushing each with butter. Brush the top of the last sheet with butter and, with a sharp knife, score the top sheets into strips about 3 inches wide from one end of the baking dish to the other.
• Bake in the preheated oven until the pastry is golden brown and crisp, about 45 minutes. Let stand for 5 minutes, then cut into squares and serve hot.

TRADITIONAL GREEK TIROPETES (CHEESE PHYLLO PIE)

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
• Combine crumbled feta and ricotta cheeses.
• Add eggs and beat thouroughly, then parsley and mix well.
• Lay 1 sheet of phyllo dough in a 9x9 in baking dish and brush lightly with melted butter.
• Lay another sheet of phyllo dough on top, brush with butter, and repeat with four more sheets of phyllo.
• Spread cheese mixture into pan and place another 6 sheets of phyllo in the same process as before.
• Place in a preheated 350 degree oven for 30 to 40 minutes.
• Serve while hot.

GREEK CHEESE PASTRIES (TIROPITES)

Steps:

• Mix together the cheeses, eggs, parsley, salt, and pepper. Cut the phyllo sheets crosswise into 3 rectangles. Place a rectangle on a work surface and gently brush with melted butter. Place 1 tablespoon (15 ml) of the cheese mixture in one corner.
• Fold the rectangles in half lengthwise to cover the cheese mixture.
• Fold the corner with the cheese mixture diagonally to make a point, and continue folding and rolling the triangle until the entire piece of dough is wrapped around the filling.
• Repeat with the remaining dough and filling. (The tiropites may be frozen at this point and baked directly from the.
• freezer.).
• Place on a lightly greased baking sheet and brush with melted butter.
• Bake in a preheated 425F oven until golden brown, 15 to 20 minutes.
• Serve warm or at room temperature.

TIROPITES

Steps:

• Beat eggs well. Add ricotta and cream cheese to eggs and beat to a thick creamy consistency. Add salt and pepper and blend well.
• Place a sheet of phyllo dough on work surface. Cut into three strips, lengthwise. Brush top side of each strip with melted butter. Drop a teaspoon of cheese mixture on edge of lower corner of strip, fold over one edge to meet the other, continue to fold side to side (like folding a flag). Brush entire triangle with melted butter and lay seam side down on baking sheet.
• Bake at 350°F for 15 - 18 minutes, until golden brown. Serve hot.

TIROPETES

Steps:

• Thaw boxes of phyllo in refridg over night. Take boxes from fridg and let rest on counter for 30 minutes. Then, dampen a kitchen dish towel and cover the rectangle sheets with it. Take one sheet at a time and brush it with melted butter or olive oil*. Repeat 2 times. Cut lengthwise into 4 strips about 2" wide. Drop a t. of cheese filling in corner of each strip and fold like a flag. Seal edges with butter Bake for 350 for 15-20 minutes.