Description
Roasted tomato & whipped feta phyllo pie is a crunchy, delicious recipe bursting with fresh flavors. A vegetarian’s delight!
Ingredients
Units
Scale
For the roasted tomatoes:
- 8 medium-sized plum tomatoes
- 1 garlic clove, finely diced
- 2-3 tablespoon olive oil, more if needed
- Salt
- Pepper
For the whipped feta
- 1 cup non-fat, no sugar yogurt
- 8 ounces feta cheese
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 cup fresh shredded parmesan
- 7 large basil leaves, chopped (chop extra for garnish if you want)
- 14 phyllo dough sheets (you’ll need to buy one package-frozen section)
- 1 stick of melted, salted butter
NOTE: you will need a 9x13 baking dish, parchment paper and non-stick cooking spray
TIP: place the box of frozen phyllo sheets in the refrigerator overnight to defrost for use the next day.
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Instructions
- Make the roasted tomatoes first and start by finely dicing the garlic. You can make the tomatoes without garlic so if you’re not a garlic lover just skip this step.
- For the roasted tomatoes: Cut the tops from the plum tomatoes and throw in garbage bowl. Cut the tomatoes in half lengthwise. Over the garbage bowl, with a spoon, scoop out the seeds and guts of the tomato, including the tough white strip in the middle. Lay tomato halves on parchment paper-lined sheet pan. Add a pinch of garlic to the top of each tomato if using. Drizzle olive oil on tomatoes and get some on the bottom of the sheet pan as well. Season with a light sprinkling of salt and pepper. Bake in pre-heated oven at 40 degrees for about 45 minutes. Check at 30 minutes. Cook a bit longer if you want a little char on the tomatoes. These should cool for 15-20 minutes before assembling the pie. Feel free to make these a day or two ahead and refrigerate.
- Make the whipped feta. Add feta to a blender or food processer along with olive oil and yogurt. Blend until smooth. I had to scrape down the sides of my blender a couple of times during the process.
- Stack the large basil leaves on top of each other and then roll like a cigar. Run your knife down the basil to create thin strips. Rotate pile and dice down smaller from there.
- Shred the fresh parmesan cheese. You can use the already-shredded, bagged stuff from the grocery store too. I like using fresh and I always have it on hand.
- PIE ASSEMBLY: Please watch the video to see the layering process – it will be very helpful.
- Once the roasted tomatoes have cooled, it’s time to assemble the pie. You should spray non-stick cooking spray to cover the bottom and sides of a 9x13 baking dish. I’ve found using cooking spray instead of butter is better – less greasy.
- Open the box of phyllo dough and unroll it. You should keep the stack of phyllo sheets right next to your assembly area. Phyllo sheets are very delicate so separate them carefully as you are using. My recipe calls for 14 sheets for this recipe. You can use more if you want – it’s a very forgiving recipe. I don’t butter every, single layer, but you can if you want (you’ll need more butter if you do). I used more layers in this recipe than my Moroccan-spiced phyllo meat pie because there is a creamy filling here.
- There will be a total of 7 layers on the bottom and 4 on top. Place two sheets of phyllo dough on the bottom of the baking dish, overlapping, with excess phyllo dough hanging from the sides of the baking dish. Throughout this process, as you add each layer of dough gently press down on the dough to flatten. (my video shows this entire process very well, please watch it will be very helpful) .
- Brush butter on the bottom and sides as well as the flaps hanging over the sides.
- Place two more sheets of phyllo dough, overlapping, but this time with excess phyllo dough hanging from the ends (or handles) of the baking dish. Don’t butter this layer.
- Place two more sheets of phyllo dough on the bottom of the baking dish, overlapping, with excess phyllo dough hanging from the sides of the baking dish again.
- Brush butter on the bottom and sides as well as the flaps hanging over the sides.
- Add one final sheet of phyllo dough in the center of the baking dish. The bottom of the pie is now finished.
- Transfer the whipped feta to the baking dish and smooth out evenly with a spatula.
- Add the shredded parmesan cheese on top of the whipped feta.
- Place the cooled tomatoes on top of the cheese. Five across the top and three down worked well. This left one leftover tomato half. Three options for that: eat it for a snack, add it to the pie, or save it and slice it for garnish on your serving plate. I used as a garnish.
- Add a pinch of chopped basil on top of each tomato.
- Folder over all four edges of the phyllo dough towards the center of the pie.
- Place one sheet of phyllo dough centered over the top and butter that layer.
- Place another sheet of phyllo dough centered over the top and do not butter that layer.
- Place another phyllo sheet in the center and butter that layer.
- Place another phyllo sheet in the center, then fold all four edges to the center and one final buttering over the top.
- Time to score, or cut, the pie into 12 squares. You must score the pie before it is cooked as it will be difficult and messy to do after and will compromise the presentation. Using a small, sharp knife works well for this.
- Bake in a preheated oven at 375 degrees for 30-40 minutes until the phyllo dough is golden brown. Let it cool at least 10 minutes before serving – 20 if you can wait that long. Feeds six people with two squares each as the portion size.
- Serve it right from the backing dish or cut squares and arrange on a platter. A salad on the side works great for this. You can enjoy as a meal or a snack.
