Fun With Filo Dough

Americans are enjoying a love affair with Mediterranean cooking  - a cuisine that tastes great and is healthy. Increased usage of MidEastern Filo or Phyllo dough is one result. Filo is Greek for "leaf" and refers to a paper-thin pastry made largely of flour, water, and salt. Most Americans experience filo as the pastry cover for the spinach appetizers, spanokopita, or the Greek dessert, baklava.

Home cooks appreciate Filo for two reasons.  It makes a great substitute for puff pastry and strudel doughs - doughs that are difficult to make at home and associated with high fat. While Filo is also difficult to make from scratch, quality frozen filo dough is now readily available at the grocery store.  Further, filo can be used with a minimal amount of fat just as easily as it can become a rich, sumptuous bite.

Taking some time to practice with Filo will reward you many times.  Filo's flexibility is impressive. It can enclose a huge variety of fillings, both savory and sweet. It can be assembled in a variety of forms like cones, tubes, pie shells, pizza crusts, pouches, roles, strudels, or triangles. It can be cut easily to make bite-sized appetizers or left large to make a strudel. It can act as a pastry wrapping for such varied foods as Beef Wellington or heated Brie cheese. The assembled but unbaked pastry will freeze beautifully; it is then baked from the frozen state.

The challenges of Filo dough are threefold. First, if not defrosted properly, the pastry sheets can stick together. Secondly, the pastry dries out rapidly. Finally, the sheets are paper-thin and tear easily. But proper handling and some practice make these problems manageable.

The standard one pound box of Filo available at the store contains 14 x 18 twenty sheets. Also occasionally available is a box with twenty-eight sheets measuring 12 x 17. Hopefully, the shipper and store have maintained the box in a frozen state so none of the sheets stick together. However, as a matter of caution, if I'm making a recipe that requires all 20 sheets, I will always buy a second box. It is very easy to use up extra filo by making extra or other recipes - a quick apple strudel is detailed below - and then freezing the surplus for future use.

Once brought home, the frozen dough should either be defrosted overnight in the refrigerator, preferably, or left at room temperature for 5 hours. Some recipes give microwave defrosting instructions (heat for one minute at a very low power like 3), but I don't find this method to be reliable. Since defrosted filo lasts 4 weeks in the refrigerator, you can purchase the dough well in advance.

Filo dries out very fast when exposed to air. Remove the sheets from the box that you need, unfold them, and spread them on a clean counter. Reroll any unneeded sheets, wrap in plastic, and refrigerate. On top of the unfolded pastry, lay two sheets of plastic wrap so all of the pastry is covered. Then cover the plastic wrap with a damp kitchen towel.

When you remove one sheet to work on, immediately replace the plastic/towel covering over the remaining sheets. The sheet you've removed must be prepped immediately. Traditionally, every filo sheet is brushed with clarified butter. To brush, start on the edges - which dry out more quickly - and work inward. Other sheets are then laid on top of the bottom sheet; each new layer is also brushed with the butter.

While clarified butter is traditional, it is also perfectly acceptable to use other fats. For savory dishes, spritz olive oil on the sheets. You can also combine fats; try alternating butter with walnut or peanut oil for a nuttier taste.

The final problem with Filo is tearing, but it can be repaired easily. Just layer one edge of a second sheet over the torn portion and press together. Further, any tears will be well covered since most dishes made with Filo will require at least two layers, and are then usually rolled or folded.

To maximize crispiness and appearance in the final product, make certain the filling is as dry as possible. If you can't dry out the filling or the food will exude liquid during cooking - like apples - sprinkle the pastry with bread or cookie crumbs after brushing. Remember to brush or spray butter or oil on top before baking. Bake the pastries on an ungreased baking sheet at a high temperature - 400 to 450 degrees.

Apple Strudel:

I generally use up the rest of my filo dough on this recipe but you do need a minimum of four sheets.

-          4 medium sized apples

-          1 tsp. cinnamon

-          ½ cup brown sugar  - quantity may depend on how sweet the apples are

-          4 sheets of filo dough - may use more sheets if desired

-          ¼ - ½  cup melted butter or peanut oil or walnut oil

-          1 cup toasted bread crumbs or crushed ginger snaps

Peel and slice the apples. Toss the apples with the sugar and cinnamon.

Prepare four layers of filo dough as described above, using either the butter or walnut or peanut oil. The quantity of fat is up to you, once you've coated thinly every part of the pastry sheet. Sprinkle the bread or cookie crumbs on the top filo dough layer.

Place the apples on the top layer leaving a one-inch margin on three sides and a three inch margin on the edge furthest away from you. You'll roll the dough like a burrito. Starting from the edge closest to you, roll the dough up  partially, fold in the sides, continue to roll to the end, and tuck the edges under. Place the roll on a baking sheet, seam side down. Brush either butter or oil on top and bake at 400 degrees for 45 minutes, or until the apples are soft. Cool, cut into slices, and dust with powdered sugar. This serves four.