Filo Pastry Recipe

This home made filo pastry recipe has been passed down in our family from at least 4 generations. The recipe is so old, they don't have measurements for the flour, they measure it by the handful (or hooftes, as my mother in law calls it - it took me quite a while to stop laughing when I heard that description!)

It is a rather time consuming effort, so do allow plenty of time, however it really is worth the effort.
I do have to say, that I have never tasted a better spanakopita or pumpkin pie than one made with this recipe, using the home made fillo dough recipe. They are crisp and tasty and just melt in your mouth delicious.

There is no one correct way of spelling Filo or Fillo - when you translate from another language and alphabet there are always variations in spellings.

This filo pastry recipe can then be used for any recipe that requires filo dough.

Ingredients

8 handfuls flour (5 plain flour and 3 bread flour)
@ 1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons oil
water - room temperature
oil to coat

Preparation

To get a handful of flour, round your hand with your fingers together and take a scoop!

Put the flour in a large mixing bowl, make a hole in the middle, add salt, oil and a little bit of water. Mix it all in with your hands. If needed add more water until like a dough consistency. Take out and knead on a floured bench for a while. Put it back in the bowl and leave for at least 1/2 hour, covered with a clean table cloth.

Taste to see if it has enough salt, if not add a bit and mix in.

Roll into a fat sausage and cut into 8 portions.

The filo dough rolls better when soft and elastic. If it feels very stiff add a little more flour and mix in to make it softer.

You will need a long very thin rolling pin. Using the rolling pin, roll the pastry out (one portion at a time),into a large circle, very thin, adding flour to the surface as needed.

To do this, roll the dough around the pin - then roll it up, now spreading your fingers, work your fingers along the dough, out along the rolling pin. Then, push the dough away from you, pushing the pin away in a fairly fast motion so the dough unwinds from the pin. This process helps to stretch and lengthen the pastry. Turn the dough round by 1/2 and repeat many times until the pastry is very thin. (It will not be as thin as shop bought fillo pastry).

Use the oil to brush over the pastry and then use as per recipe.

Using this filo pastry recipe, if you make any of the pita recipes (spanakopita, pumpkin pie, cheese pie, etc), up to the stage it goes in the oven, then if you like, before cooking, you can freeze the pies, uncooked. When ready to cook, place the frozen pie straight in the oven and cook as per recipe instruction.

Kali Orexi - Bon Appetit

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