Tiropita
Tiropita are Greek-style hand pies which are light, crispy and filled with feta cheese! Great as party appetizers or served with a light summer salad.
Tiropita Recipe
Where I'm from, Greek Festivals are in abundance, so there is never a shortage of baklava and gyros!
However, my favorite item to order is the tiropita, which are the most amazing feta cheese pies.
Not many people are familiar with Greek tiropita, but you may have heard of spanakopita.
Tiropita is very similar, but the focus is all on the feta cheese, whose salty crumbles make everything better from watermelon and feta to lemon pasta salad.
One bite of these crispy pies and you'll know why!
The feta filling is salty, tangy and creamy all at the same time.
The light flakiness of the crust provides the perfect balance.
They make wonderful appetizers or you can make a light dinner of them by serving with a salad.
The first time I attempted making these on my own, I was a little intimidated by the phyllo sheets.
They are tissue paper thin and tear easily if not handled gently.
But after putting together my first layer, it was an absolute breeze.
How to make Tiropita
Create a layer of three sheets of phyllo with butter brushed in between each layer: phyllo/butter/phyllo/butter/phyllo.
Then you cut the phyllo into strips. A pizza cutter comes in handy here.
The strips can be any size you want - about 4 inches wide if making as an appetizer, or 7 inches wide if eating as a snack or side dish. There are no rules.
Place a dollop of filling at one end, taking care not to use too much filling.
Over-stuffing the pies will result in leakage during baking.
I had a little cheese bubbling through, but you definitely don't want filling all over the bottom of the pan.
The pies are then rolled up from corner to corner in the shape of a triangle.
See the photos below as well as the detailed instructions in the recipe. Opa!
Tiropita
Greek tiropita - phyllo pastry puffs with a wonderful feta cheese filling. These handheld appetizers are easy to put together with just a few ingredients.
Ingredients
- 1 pound feta cheese
- 3 large eggs
- ¼ cup plain Greek yogurt
- Very small pinch of nutmeg
- 8 ounces phyllo dough, thawed
- ¼ cup butter, melted
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- In a large bowl, mash together the feta cheese, eggs, yogurt and pinch of nutmeg. Mixture will be slightly lumpy, but mostly smooth.
- Using thawed phyllo dough, lightly brush one sheet with melted butter. Top with another sheet of phyllo, and brush again with butter. Top with final sheet of phyllo. Do not butter last sheet. You will have 3 layers of phyllo with melted butter in between. Keep extra phyllo dough covered with a damp cloth while working.
- For medium triangles, cut dough into 4 strips about 4.5 inches wide. Use 1 tablespoon of filling. For large triangles, cut dough into 2 strips about 7 inches wide. Use about 2 tablespoons of filling.
- Place filling near the end of 1 strip. Take the bottom left corner and fold it up and to the right, so that it forms a small triangle. Take the triangle point on the bottom right and flip it up while keeping it aligned right.
- Taking the right corner, fold it over to the left side to keep the triangle shape. Take the triangle point on the left side and flip it up keeping it aligned left. The sequence is left over-up-right over-up. Repeat these steps until you’ve reached the end of the strip.
- Continue with remaining phyllo until all sheets have been used.
- Place triangles on a baking sheet and brush tops with melted butter. Bake for 12-15 minutes, or until golden brown.
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Nutrition Information:
Yield: 20 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 128Total Fat: 9gSaturated Fat: 5gUnsaturated Fat: 3gCholesterol: 55mgSodium: 298mgCarbohydrates: 7gFiber: 0gSugar: 1gProtein: 5g
Nutritional information provided is an estimate only. Please consult the labels of ingredients you use for more accurate results.
This recipe first appeared as a guest post on Food Fanatic, where I am a contributor.
If you love feta, be sure to check out these other winning recipes!
yum this sounds really good. Thanks for sharing.
Simon