Feta Phyllo And Zucchini Pie Recipes

TRADITIONAL ZUCCHINI PIE RECIPE WITH FETA CHEESE (GREEK KOLOKITHOPITA)

Steps:

• To prepare this traditional Greek zucchini pie recipe (kolokithopita), start by making the dough. In a large mixing bowl add the flour and salt, make a well in the centre and pour in the vinegar and olive oil. Using a dough hook mix to combine the ingredients for 10-15 seconds. (Tip: The vinegar helps the dough for the zucchini pie to become crispy.)
• Depending on the kind of flour, the weather, the humidity and various factors, the dough for the zucchini pie may need a little bit more or less water than this recipe calls for. Start by adding 200g of water at first (3/4 of a cup) and mix, until the flour absorbs the water. After mixing for a while, the dough should become an elastic ball. The perfect dough for your zucchini pie should be soft, malleable and smooth. If the dough is still crumbled, then you need to add a little bit more water. Add a few drops of water and mix for a while. Check out the consistency of your dough and add a few more drops of water, if needed. In case you added more water than needed, the dough will become sticky. Don't worry, you can fix that by adding some more flour (add 1/2 tsp at first, mix and check again).
• When you are happy with the consistency of the dough for your zucchini pie, wrap with some plastic wrap and let the dough rest for 45-60 minutes. This is essential, so that the dough softens and you can roll it easily.
• In the meantime prepare the filling for the zucchini pie (Greek kolokithopita). Remove the skin of the zucchinis and grate them into a collander, season with salt and leave aside for 20 minutes to drain. Wrap the grated zucchinis in a towel and squeeze, in order to get rid of the excess water. In a saucepan add 2 tbsps olive oil and saute the onions, until soft. Add all the ingredients for the filling of the zucchini pie in a large bowl and blend to combine. Set aside.
• For this zucchini pie recipe you will need a large baking pan approx. 25x35cm. Using a cooking brush oil the bottom and sides of the pan.
• Divide the dough into two halves. You will use half the dough for the bottom of the zucchini pie and the other half to cover it. Place half the dough on a floured surface and coat your rolling pin with some flour. Make a circle of dough with your hands; now you are ready do roll! Ensure that your dough has plenty of flour to prevent it from sticking to the working surface or the rolling pin. At first, roll out a few times, turning the dough every once in a while, to keep the circle even and the dough from sticking to the surface. Gently roll the edge of the dough over the rolling pin and roll the dough around the pin. Place your hands in the center of the rolling pin and as you roll, move them out to the sides so that both the rolling pin and your hands are working to spread and thin the dough. Unroll, turn a half turn and repeat. Continue rolling making the dough thinner and thinner each time. Move your hands from the center to the sides to keep even pressure and help in spreading and thinning the dough. Carefully roll your dough around the rolling pin and then unroll it over the pan and ease the dough into the dish, pushing it into all sides.
• Tip in the filling of the zucchini pie. Roll out the rest of the dough, roll your dough around the rolling pin and then unroll it over the filling of the zucchini pie (kolokithopita). With a knife trim some of the excessive phyllo and roll the rest on the edges. Brush the top with enough olive oil and make some holes on top of the zucchini pie with a sharp knife. Drizzle the kolokithopita with some water and sprikle with sesame seeds.
• Bake the zucchini pie in preheated oven at 180C for 50-60 minutes, until nicely coloured.
• Serve this delicious Greek zucchini pie (kolokithopita) as starter, mid-day snack or as a main dish with a nice Greek salad aside. Enjoy!

GREEK ZUCCHINI AND HERB PIE

Steps:

• Grate the zucchini using a food processor or a hand grater. Place in a large colander, salt generously, and let drain for 1 hour, pressing down on it occasionally to squeeze out liquid. After an hour, take up handfuls and squeeze out moisture (or wrap in a kitchen towel and twist the towel to squeeze out the moisture). Place in a bowl.
• Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil over medium heat in a large, heavy nonstick skillet over medium heat, and add the onion. Cook, stirring, until tender, about five minutes, then add the garlic. Cook, stirring, until the garlic is fragrant, about one minute. Transfer to the bowl with the zucchini. Stir in the herbs, feta, eggs and pepper.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Oil a 10-inch pie or cake pan. If using phyllo, line the pie dish with seven pieces of phyllo, lightly brushing each piece with oil and turning the dish after each addition so that the edges of the phyllo drape evenly over the pan. Fill with the zucchini mixture. Fold the draped edges in over the filling, lightly brushing the folded in sheets of phyllo, then layer the remaining five pieces on top, brushing each piece with olive oil. Stuff the edges into the sides of the pan. If using the olive oil pastry, divide the dough into two equal pieces. Roll out the first ball to a circle 2 inches wider than the pan. Line the pan with the pastry, and brush with olive oil. Top with the filling. Roll out the remaining dough. Place over the filling. Press the edges of the top and bottom layers of dough together, and pinch to form an attractive lip around the edge.
• Make a few slashes in the top crust so that steam can escape as the pie bakes. Score in a few places with the tip of a knife, and brush with olive oil. Bake 50 to 60 minutes, until the pastry is golden brown. Remove from the heat, and allow to cool 15 to 30 minutes or to room temperature. Slice in wedges and serve.

GREEK ZUCCHINI, FETA & MEAT PIE

Steps:

• Place zucchini in colander over bowl. Sprinkle zucchini with salt; let stand 30 min. to drain. Wrap zucchini in clean kitchen towel; use to squeeze remaining liquid from zucchini. Place zucchini in medium bowl.
• Heat oven to 400°F. Brown meat; drain. Add to zucchini along with the cheese, eggs, milk and bread crumbs; mix well.
• Place 1 phyllo sheet on clean work surface; brush lightly with some of the butter. Cover with second phyllo sheet; brush with butter. Place double layers of phyllo dough in 9-inch round pan sprayed with cooking spray, letting ends of dough extend over side of pan. Repeat with 6 of the remaining phyllo sheets, crisscrossing double layers of dough as necessary to completely cover bottom of pan.
• Spread zucchini mixture onto bottom of crust; cover with remaining phyllo sheets. Fold ends of phyllo dough over top of pie; brush with remaining butter.
• Bake 45 min. or until golden brown. Cool in pan 10 min. Unmold onto serving plate; cut into wedges to serve.

ZUCCHINI, FETA AND DILL PIE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 180°C Butter a 22cm square cake tin and line the base and sides with buttered baking paper. Dust the tin with the polenta, tap out the excess, and set tin aside.
• Pile the grated zucchini into a large sieve or colander, sit a plate on top to weigh it down a little and leave zucchini to drain really well.
• Break the eggs into a large bowl and whisk them together. Add the oil, chives and dill, mint or basil and whisk them inches
• Press down firmly on the plate over the zucchini to squeeze out as much liquid as possible. Stir the grated zucchini into the egg mixture. Crumble in most of the feta (reserving a little for the top of the pie) along with the parmesan, and season to taste with salt and pepper. Add the flour and mix in until it is combined (wearing disposable gloves and mixing by hand is good, as mixture gets quite thick). Spread the batter into the prepared tin and sprinkle the reserved feta over the top. Gently press the cherry tomato halves, cut side up, into the surface of the pie.
• Bake pie for 45-50 minutes, or until the top of the pie is springy when pressed. (It's a bit hard to know when it's cooked. Belinda Jeffery's suggests -- Her first attempt seemed ready after 30 minutes but when she took it out and let it cool a little she realised it was still squishy in the centre, so she put it back in the oven for another 15 minutes (thank goodness it's forgiving!). So when you think it's cooked, make sure the top is quite bouncy, and to double-check, insert the tip of a fine knife down into the middle and press the two sides of the cut apart - it should look quite set.
• When it's ready, take the pie out of the oven and cool it in the tin for 10 -15 minutes. If you're feeling game you can just gently grasp the baking paper and lift the pie out of the tin onto a serving plate, then slide the paper out from underneath. Or, put a wire rack on top and invert the pie onto the rack. Peel away the paper, then sit your serving platter on top of the pie and invert it again onto this. Tidy up any straggly bits and brush the tomatoes with a little oil. Scatter some mint leaves or sprigs on top and serve.

GREEK TOMATO FETA FRITTERS (DOMATOKEFTETHES)

Steps:

• Stir together tomatoes, zucchini, green onions, kosher salt, sugar, black pepper, oregano, and cayenne in a bowl to combine.
• Let sit for 15 minutes for the sugar and salt to draw out liquids from the vegetables.
• Stir the tomato mixture; add parsley, mint, and basil. Crumble in feta cheese. Add flour and baking powder; mix with a spoon until combined. Batter should be relatively loose but will hold its shape on a spoon. If too loose, add more flour; if too dry, add some water until desired consistency is reached.
• Wrap the bowl in plastic wrap and let chill in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.
• Heat 1 inch of vegetable oil in a frying pan over medium-high heat to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C), or use a deep fryer.
• Place heaping tablespoonfuls of batter in the hot oil; reduce heat to medium. Fry until golden brown and cooked through, 2 to 3 minutes per side. Flip once more and fry for an additional 30 seconds, if desired. Serve warm or at room temperature.

SAVORY FILO PIE WITH ZUCCHINI AND FETA

Steps:

• Remove the filo from the refrigerator. Grate the zucchini using the large holes of a grater. Place it in a colander and sprinkle with ¼ tsp. of salt. Let it sit for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. After 20 minutes, squeeze the zucchini between the palms of your hands to remove all the excess water. This is necessary so your filo does not get soggy (as a reference, I was able to remove about a cup of liquid from mine). Place the drained zucchini in a medium bowl.
• Chop the green onions, mince the dill and crumble the Feta. Add them to the bowl with the zucchini then stir in the yogurt, olive oil, lemon zest, spearmint, salt and pepper. Stir gently to incorporate and set aside. If there is time, refrigerate the mixture for 20-30 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 375° F. Line a 10" springform pan with a piece of parchment paper and secure it to the top edges of the side with clips (a regular 10" tart pan can be used as well as long as the sides are about 2" tall.).
• Open your room-temperature filo. Unroll it and place it on a clean surface. Position the long side in front of you. The filo will measure 13" x 18". Cut through the center of the stack of filo so you have a 13" x 9" stack. You will need only half of the package (8oz.), so cover the remainder well and refrigerate it.
• Take two filo sheets and place the springform pan on top of them. With a sharp knife, cut the filo around the pan so you have two round pieces of filo. Brush a little olive oil on each of them and stack them at the bottom of the pan (they will form the base of the filo pie).
• Brush three sheets of filo lightly with olive oil and stack then on top of each other. Spread about 3 TBSP. the filling on the top layer of the filo stack, using the back of a spoon (do not worry if it is not spread evenly). Gently scrunch the filo lengthwise to create a pleat (see photos). Once it is all scrunched, form a small coil and place the coiled and filled filo in the center of the pan. Repeat this spread/scrunch/coil process with a second stack of three layers of filo, and add this to the end of the first coil in the pan so that your coil is expanding from the center of the pan outward (see photos). Continue with the same process until you have created three additional pleated filo stacks and you run out of the filling. If there are any visible gaps, use some pieces of filo to fill them out.
• Brush the top of the pleated filo tart lightly with olive oil and bake for about an hour. Half way through baking, gently lift the tart to ensure that the bottom is cooking evenly. If it is not, place the pan on the lower rack for the remainder of the cooking time.
• When the tart is ready, the top should look golden brown and crispy. If necessary, cook for a few more minutes to get it to the right color. Remove the pan and place the tart on a rack to cool down slightly until you can handle it. At that point, open the springform pan and slide the filo tart directly to the rack to cool off completely.

CRUSTLESS ZUCCHINI AND FETA PIE

Steps:

• Grate zucchini using the largest holes of a box grater. Place in a colander, sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon salt, and let drain for 30 minutes.
• Meanwhile, whisk eggs in a large bowl. Whisk in Greek yogurt and 1/3 cup olive oil. Add flour and whisk until well combined.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Brush a 12-inch round baking pan with 1 teaspoon olive oil and sprinkle 1/2 of the bread crumbs over the bottom.
• Place zucchini in a cheesecloth or kitchen towel; bring the ends together and twist to squeeze out as much liquid as possible.
• Transfer zucchini to the bowl with the egg-flour mixture. Add bell pepper, onion, black pepper, remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt, and but 2 tablespoons crumbled feta; mix well. Use a spatula to spread mixture into an even layer in the prepared pan. Sprinkle remaining feta over top, followed by remaining bread crumbs.
• Bake in the preheated oven until pie is set and top is golden brown, about 1 hour. Remove from the oven and cool 20 minutes before cutting.

ZUCCHINI PHYLLO PIZZA

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place cheese and herbs in a small bowl and set aside.
• Combine melted butter and oil and, with a pastry brush, lightly grease a baking sheet. Place 2 sheets of phyllo, one on top of the other, on the baking sheet. Brush lightly with the oil and butter mixture, sprinkle with 2 tablespoons of the herb-cheese mixture and 1 teaspoon of wheat germ. Repeat 5 more times, until all the sheets have been used, ending with a layer of phyllo. Brush this top sheet with the oil and butter.
• Leaving a 1 1/2-inch border free, sprinkle the onion on the top sheet. Place the green and yellow zucchini, in alternating rows, overlapping as necessary. Sprinkle with remaining cheese, herbs and wheat germ. Drizzle with any remaining oil and butter.
• Bake 15 to 20 minutes, or until phyllo is lightly browned and the cheese has melted. Remove to cooling rack and cut into 3-inch squares.