Monthly Archives: November 2015

Cheese & Basterma Pie

 

cheese pie 2

Ingredients:

1 packet filo pastry

300 grs Kasseri cheese (grated coarsly)

300 grs Milner cheese (grated coarsly)

300 grs feta cheese (crumbled)

Mix all 3 cheeses together & place in a bowl

300 grs basterma (coarsly shredded with fingers & lightly cooked for easier spreading)

 

Method:

Pre-heat oven to 180 centigrades.

Butter a large baking tray.

Open the filo sheets one at a time

sprinkle some cheese mixture

sprinkle some Basterma

(make sure you leave about 1cm at far edge filling-free, and brush it with butter so that it seals better when you close the role)

roll from bottom up swiss roll fashion as in picture

place in pan, curling the edges to fit the width of the pan

keep placing the long rolls close to one another snuggled tightly in the pan until you run out of filo or of filling whichever comes first!

Just look at the pictures, they walk you through the steps one at a time.

Beat 1 cup milk + 1 egg

Pour on top

Bake for 45 minutes.

Everyone’s oven is sometimes totally different, so I suggest that you start checking after 30 minutes, and keep an eye on the colour to make sure that your pie is not overcooked.

Enjoy!

OLIVE PICKING

This morning, I spent a few hours staring at my laptop, agonising over the choice of recipe that should appear “first” on my blog. Surely it should be one of my best? Or at least one of my favourites? Or maybe one that has a really special story attached to it? Should there be a hierarchy in the order? etc, etc… until I got myself so confused, that I briefly considered cancelling the blog altogether and calling it quits before I even start!

That was my old super-organised, methodical, perfectionist self, pushing herself in the foreground, trying to take control and run the stage, her way, from the very word go. “If its going to be done at all, then leave to me, I know what I’m doing” attitude!

Remind me again what is the reason for starting this blog?

One step at a time, feeling better, healing, little victories, little joys, what feels good, what comes from the heart …

Last week we were in the village of Melanes, helping friends harvest their olives for oil. It was a perfect day; sunny, warm, and great for being out in nature enjoying the fresh air.

olive picking

But me being me, and knowing what a back-breaking job olive picking can be, I volunteered instead to cook lunch. And dinner. For all eight of us!!!

Stupid me you might think, only between cooking or picking olives, it was a no-brainer choice for me!

For lunch I served a Cheese & Basterma pie, and a great big green salad for the hungry troops

This is a never fail Greek style cheese pie, but since I had beautiful Egyptian Basterma in my freezer, I decided to add the Egyptian touch and turn it into an Egyptian style cheese pie.

It was super delicious!

The detailed recipe that follows is for my cousin Soha, who’s been asking me for the recipe for a few years now. Sorry it took so long Soha, but here it finally is:

Cheese & Basterma Pie!