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This is a treat that originates from Cyprus, a traditional (Easter-time) cheese pie that has saved its place in the pantheon of the proper cheese pies – and it is me telling this, that I have prepared a lot of them. The dough is not only delicious, but also it is foolproof to make, while the cheesy filling combines sweet raisins with fresh spearmint.

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Ingredients

For the dough
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  • 750 g hard flour
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  • 60 ml olive oil
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  • 1 teaspoon of dry yeast
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  • 400 ml water
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  • 1 pinch of salt
For the filling
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  • 400 g sweet graviera cheese
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  • 300 g haloumi cheese, grated
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  • 1 teaspoon of thinly sliced spearmint
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  • 1 teaspoon of mastic
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  • 1 teaspoon of mahleb
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  • 1 teaspoon of cinnamon
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  • 200 g dates
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  • 3 eggs
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  • 80 g crystal sugar
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  • 80 g thin semolina

Instructions

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  • Add the yeast to a bowl with the water and stir properly with a whisk.
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  • Allow one minute to set.
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  • Add all the ingredients of the dough to the mixer’s bowl.
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  • Beat with the hook of the mixer until you get a proper and floppy dough.
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  • Cover with a kitchen towel and allow one hour to rest in a warm place of your house.
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  • Preheat convection oven to 200°
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  • Stir all ingredients for the filling inside a bowl.
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  • Remove the dough from the mixer’s bowl and separate it into three parts.
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  • Flatten the dough into sheets of 2 millimetres.
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  • Cut into squares 20x20 cm.
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  • Fill the centres of the squares with the filling.
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  • Fold opposite sides of each square towards its centre without covering all the surface of the filling.
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  • Then fold the same way the other two opposite sides of each square.
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  • Using a fork, press the angles to stick to each other.
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  • Bake in the oven for 25 minutes.
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