Tiropitakia - Little Greek Cheese Pies
Usually Greek pies are excellent, but the Greek cheese pies are even more so - and I have tasted and cooked many varieties of pies. During our vacation in Greece, the landlady of the house we stayed in, offered us these pies and said they were called Tiropitakia. She said she would give me the recipe, but she didn't keep her promise, so I searched on different blogs until I managed to find the exact recipe for these lovely pies. Mine were as good as hers and since then they have been among our favourites - wonderful as a nibble or starter, breakfast, picnic and so on...
Not only are they soft and flavourful, but, surprisingly, they are light and puffy at the same time. The texture is very good, I'd say it's a special kind of pastry. The filling was with, of course, Feta cheese, but any kind of cheese with a similiar texture, can be used instead.
In a deep bowl, beat the softened butter with an electric mixer.
Add the yogurt and salt, beat a further minute.
Put the flour and the baking powder and mix with a spoon until well combined.
Turn dough onto floured table and knead gently until it becomes smooth.
Let rest for 20-30 minutes.
Meanwhile, we prepare the filling:
-crumble the cheese with your hands or with a fork and mix it with 1 egg and a little ground black pepper to taste.
Should the cheese be too watery, add in 1-2 tbsp semolina to absorb the extra water and prevent the pies from being soggy.
Roll out the dough with a rolling pin on the floured table until about 3 mm thick.
Cut into circles using a glass or a big mouth mug - about 8-10 cm in diameter.
Gather the pastry left, roll out again, cut into circles etc.
Fill each circle with a tbsp cheese filling.
Fold over to make half a circle.
Carefully press a fork around the edges.
Place the pies on a baking sheet and brush them with egg yolk.
Bake in the preheated oven to 180-200 degrees C for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown.
Let cool for a bit and serve with great pleasure. They will remain soft the next day too, we had them as a starter at a picnic and they were a huge success, for kids and adults alike.
Enjoy!
