narrative – photography: Antonia Kati – journalist, food photographer & food stylist
Ingredients for a 25 X 35 cm oven dish
- 24 slices of kasseri cheese
- 1 tbsp melted fresh butter
- 20 thin pastirma slices
- 2 tomatoes, thinly sliced
- 10 sheets of filo pastry
- salt
- 1/2 cup of corn oil
- 1 egg beaten with a splash of water
- 1-2 tbsp black sesame seeds
- 1 egg
Remove the pastirma rind. Preheat the oven to 180Ο C. Mix the corn oil and butter and place your ingredients (filo pastry, tomatoes, kasseri cheese, pastirma) next to you on the kitchen counter. Brush the oven dish with oil and lay the first filo sheet. Brush the filo with the mix of oil and butter and repeat with the next three sheets.
Spread half of the cheese slices on the filo sheets and do the same with the tomato slices. Sprinkle with salt. Spread the pastirma slices, follow with the rest of the cheese and fold the edges of your filo sheets inwards.
Layer the rest of the sheets on your filling, brushing each one with oil and butter. Trim the sheets with scissors, so that they’re only a few mm larger than your dish. Use a brush to push the sheets inwards and carve the surface of your pie using a sharp knife.
Brush the pie with the beaten egg, sprinkle with the black sesame seeds and bake until golden brown. Remove the pie from the oven and let it cool for 10-15 minutes before serving.
