Eggplant Feta Phyllo Pies Food

EGGPLANT-FETA PHYLLO PIES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Lightly brush cut sides of eggplant with oil and season with salt and pepper. Place eggplant, cut side down, on a parchment-lined rimmed baking sheet. Bake until tender, 20 minutes, then remove from oven. Reduce heat to 375 degrees. When cool enough to handle, scrape flesh from skin and roughly chop. Transfer eggplant to a medium bowl and add feta, 3 tablespoons pistachios, coriander, red-pepper flakes, and mint. Season with salt and pepper and stir to combine.
• Lightly oil 6 standard muffin cups. Lay 1 sheet phyllo on a work surface and, with a pastry brush, lightly brush with oil. Stack 4 more phyllo sheets on top, brushing each with oil. Cut into 6 squares. Gently press one square into each muffin cup and fill with 1/4 cup eggplant mixture. Gently fold over corners of phyllo to enclose filling. Brush tops with oil and sprinkle with 1 tablespoon pistachios. Bake until golden, 30 minutes. Let cool in pan, 5 minutes. Serve pies warm or at room temperature.

BAKED EGGPLANT WITH FETA CHEESE

Steps:

• Wash the eggplants and remove stems. Cut lengthwise into 1/2 inch slices. Fry lightly (until soft and gently browned) in 1/4 inch of oil.
• Preheat the oven to 355°F (180°C).
• Layer the eggplant in the bottom of a baking dish.
• Combine the tomatoes, basil, garlic, and salt and pepper to taste, in a bowl, and spoon the mixture over the eggplant. Top with feta cheese, and bake at 355°F (180°C) for 45 minutes.
• Serve hot, warm, or at room temperature.

MELITZANOPITA (GREEK PIE USING EGGPLANT (AUBERGINE) )

Steps:

• In a large saucepan over medium heat, sauté eggplant and onion, stirring occasionally, until eggplant is soft and has become almost a puree, about 20 minutes.
• Add bacon or ham, tomato paste and salt and pepper (careful with the salt - it may not seem like a lot but the bacon and the cheese, that will be added later will add a lot more), and cook another 5 minutes. You may have a dark brown film on the bottom of your skillet (I do not use non-stick surfaces - only stainless steel). You will find that this scrapes up easily once you turn off the heat and the eggplant puree starts to cool. Do scrape it back into the puree with a spoon as this is highly-flavoured and helps the overall taste (if it doesn't scrape easily in the beginning, just wait a couple of minutes longer). Allow to cool.
• Note: The eggplant puree can be made up to 1 day ahead and refrigerated. Bring to room temperature before continuing with recipe.
• In a large bowl, combine well eggplant puree, feta, eggs, parsley and mint. Taste a small amount of the filling to decide if you would like it a bit saltier.
• Preheat oven to 390°F.
• Butter bottom and sides of a 15 X 11 inch baking pan. Stagger sheets of phyllo in pan, brushing each sheet with olive oil as you position it in the pan.
• When you have used half the sheets of phyllo pastry, empty the filling into the pan and spread it out evenly.
• Continue staggering the remaining sheets of phyllo over top, brushing each one with olive oil as you position it in the pan. Tuck in any overhang you have and give a last generous brushing of olive oil to the whole pie.
• With a sharp knife, score the pie lengthwise into 4 strips, and then score into 4 strips crosswise (resulting in 16 pieces of pie). DO NOT CUT ALL THE WAY THROUGH PHYLLO - JUST THE TOP LAYERS.
• Generously sprinkle the pie with some tap water using your fingertips (run your hand under the tap and sprinkle the water over the pie - do about 5 of these sprinkles - this results in a crisper, crunchier crust).
• Brush pie with egg wash and sprinkle with the sesame seeds. Bake for 1 hour, or until pie is a golden-brown. You may need to reverse pan back to front midway through baking.
• Allow to cool 15-20 minutes before cutting into. Personally, I like this pie just warm or at room temperature.
• Enjoy.

SPANAKOPITA (GREEK SPINACH PIE)

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly oil a 9x9 inch square baking pan.
• Heat 3 tablespoons olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Saute onion, green onions and garlic, until soft and lightly browned. Stir in spinach and parsley, and continue to saute until spinach is limp, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside to cool.
• In a medium bowl, mix together eggs, ricotta, and feta. Stir in spinach mixture. Lay 1 sheet of phyllo dough in prepared baking pan, and brush lightly with olive oil. Lay another sheet of phyllo dough on top, brush with olive oil, and repeat process with two more sheets of phyllo. The sheets will overlap the pan. Spread spinach and cheese mixture into pan and fold overhanging dough over filling. Brush with oil, then layer remaining 4 sheets of phyllo dough, brushing each with oil. Tuck overhanging dough into pan to seal filling.
• Bake in preheated oven for 30 to 40 minutes, until golden brown. Cut into squares and serve while hot.