Koulouropita, a traditional Greek feta cheese pie

Ingredients

For the dough

• 1 kg flour for all purposes
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp salt

For the filling

• 500 gr goat feta cheese
• ½ cup of trahana

Trahana is a type of pasta that is made from semolina together with either milk (sweet trahana) or yogurt (sour trahana). It’s dried and then crumbled into tiny little grains that are much like couscous in their appearance. If you need a substitute, you can try couscous or a very small grain pasta.

For the phyllo dough

• 100 gr olive oil
• 100 gr cow milk butter
• Cornflour/cornstarch to help you stretch the dough

Preparation

Mix flour, oil and salt. Make a hole in the middle and pour some water. Work the dough and keep adding a little water until the dough is just a little bit sticky. Then cover the dough with a cloth and leave it there to rest for half an hour.

Meanwhile, melt the butter and mix it with the olive oil. Crumble the feta cheese. Fill a small bowl with little water and another one with the trahana. With a pastry brush apply oil on the inside of your baking pan. Preheat oven to 200℃.

After half an hour separate the dough into 10 balls. Dust your kitchen table with cornstarch and place a ball of dough in the middle. Use a rolling pin to roll out the dough, until it becomes a very thin sheet. Dip your fingers in the bowl with the water and sprinkle the dough with some water drops. Brush lightly the dough with the butter-oil mixture.

Sprinkle with some feta cheese and some trahana. Push the sheet gently so that it becomes like pleats. Twist it like a snail and place it in the center of the pan. Continue with the remaining 9 balls of dough, wrapping them around the center. When done, pour in, the remaining butter. Bake at 200C until golden brown.

Source: https://cookeatup.com/en/koulouropita-traditional-greek-feta-cheese-pie/