I love leeks and I use them in a lot of different recipes, traditional and not traditional. In Greece we mainly eat leek during the Winter and early Spring and consider it a Winter vegetable. Having just left the Winter behind us and slowly entering Spring, I am just in time to share this recipe of the traditional Greek Leek Pie with Homemade Filo!
You all know that I love cooking with the seasons. In reality, up to a few years ago in Greece, you could not find vegetables that were not in season. The Winters here aren’t very cold, but when in the autumn the weather gets a bit less sunny and a bit colder, we change our Summer recipes for dishes with Winter ingredients.
There is nothing nicer in the house during the Winter than the smell of a fresh homemade pie that has just come out of the oven. I happen to have the nicest oven in my house; It’s like a wood-fired AGA that warms the house and (this is just perfect for me) cooks as well. A real AGA is old and traditional and has a small oven and also a cooking area on the top. My mother used to have one when we were little and she would use it for her cooking adventures; really lovely.
A few years ago, I bought one just like hers and now I am experimenting with it and just love it. The last weeks we had a few cold days here in Greece, and we used it to warm the house. Dora came by and we made this leek pie in the wood oven; the result was so much better than we expected and worth every moment that we spend in the kitchen.
A lot of people buy ready-made filo, including me sometimes, but when I have the time and the energy to make the filo myself and when I eat it warm, it is like a present from God. So, I made my own filo for this recipe and it was so nice and worthwhile! What a precious moment of happiness around the fire on a Winter day. I think you should try this leek pie, you will love it. If you find it too difficult to make the filo you can of course buy ready-made instead, but do try to make it at least once!
You can serve the leek pie with salad, fresh bread and a lovely glass of white wine. Enjoy!
Photos: George Gkionis
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4 leeks washed and chopped
2 onions chopped in slices
4 spring onions chopped
4 tablespoon(s) olive oil
2 potatoes in cubes, boiled for 10 minutes and drained
Salt
Pepper
300-gram feta cheese
1 egg
Optional: 1 sausage in slices
Homemade filo dough
1 cup All-purpose white flour
½ cup water
1 tablespoon ouzo
1 tablespoon olive oil
½ teaspoon of salt
Extra: 4 tablespoons of olive oil for drizzling over the filo layers
Homemade filo dough
In a bowl, mix well all the ingredients for the filo and knead the dough for approximately 7 minutes. You should be having a soft smooth but firm dough. Depending on the flour or the water, you might need a bit more flour or a bit more water. When ready, cover it with a kitchen towel and let it stand while you are preparing the filling of the pie.
Leek filling
1. Sauté the onions in the pan with the olive oil and the leeks for 6-7 minutes. Season with salt, stir often and sauté for another 10-15 minutes, until they caramelize nicely.
2. Transfer the mixture into a bowl and let it cool.
3. Add the drained potatoes, the spring onions (and the sausage if you have chosen to use it). Crumble the feta on top of the vegetables with your hands and mix well with a spoon. Add the egg and mix again until completely combined.
4. Preheat oven to 170* C (340* F).
5. Putting it together
6. Cut the filo dough into 4 pieces. Flour your surface well and with a rolling pin, roll out the dough until it becomes a thin sheet (the thinner the better). Cover the filo pieces with a kitchen towel so they don’t get dry.
7. Oil a baking pan (medium size) with a tablespoon of olive oil. Spread the first sheet of your home-made filo in the baking pan and drizzle it with olive oil. On top of the first sheet you spread the second sheet of filo and drizzle again with olive oil. In this way you create a crispy bottom that is able to resist fluffiness caused by the liquid from the filling.
8. Add the leek filling and flatten it with the back side of a tablespoon. Cover the leek mixture with the third sheet of filo, drizzle it with olive oil and add the last sheet on top. Turn the edges of the filo that are hanging over the baking pan toward the top of the pie.
9. Use a sharp knife to make some holes on the top of the pie for the steam to escape while baking. Put it in your oven and bake for 50 minutes to 1 hour or until golden brown.
10. If you use ready-made filo:
In case you decide to buy ready-made multilayered filo, separate the filo in to 2 parts: one multilayered part for under the filling as a base, and the other part for the cover. You follow the same method where you drizzle both bottom and top filo layer with olive oil. Rather important in this case is to cut the filo / pie into portions before you put it in the oven and bake it, otherwise is might become very difficult to portion.
Servings : 4 people
Ready in : 110 Minutes
Recipe Type : Vegetarian
Katerina's Kouzina recipes