An easy pie that the women of the old Constantinople made – the Politisses … “a quick food”, as they said. The sheet (filo) was always the same while the filling varies, depending on what was in the refrigerator at the time. Other times in the filling they used feta cheese, graviera cheese and herbs, still other times they made it with a variety of cheeses and peppers of all colors. If they wanted to make it sweet they used cream cheese and sprinkled it with walnuts and aromatic honey.
We fried it in hot olive oil but you can also bake it in a well preheated oven. We sprinkled it with aromatics but sesame and black cumin is also a very good match. However you make the pie it will surely be a welcomed culinary creation for all.
Aunt Sophia, I always remember had always in the freezer cheese pies ready for baking at the earliest opportunity.
Fried Politiki Cheesepie
From Maria Giorgi, of the restaurant “Gia mia Boukia” in N. Makri
Ingredients
For the dough
- 500 gr flour for all uses
- 200 ml water
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 90 ml olive oil
- 2 tbsp vinegar
For the filling
- 250 gr feta cheese cut in cubes
- 150 gr grated Naxos graviera cheese
- 3 tbsp dry peppermint or dry basil
- 1 large tomato, cut in cubes
For sprinkling
A mixture of aromatics
Sesame
How to prepare
In a bowl put the flour, vinegar, olive oil, and salt. Add the water little by little and knead vigorously until the dough does not stick to your hands.
As we knead the dough we lift it to “get air” and we immerse our fingers in the dough for the same reason. This is the secret for the success of the sheet.
Divide the dough into 7-8 equal portions.
Let the dough “rest”, covered for 1 hour.
Sprinkle the counter with flour and roll out with a rolling pin, thin, round sheets.
In a bowl put the ingredients for the filling and mix by hand until the mixture is homogenous.
Put on each sheet a spoonful of filling and spread it on the half of the sheet. We then cover with the other half giving a crescent shape. With our fingers press around the edges to close.
Fry in hot olive oil until the cheesepies get golden brown on both sides.
Remove the pies from the pan using forceps and put them on a platter we have covered with absorbent kitchen paper to remove the excess olive oil.
Serve with roasted sesame and savory.
