Greece - Food & Drinks - Pastry: Chortopita.

As mentioned in a previous post of mine, about tiropitakia, Greeks and their pites (pies) are like two hands on a belly: inseparable!

In this post I show you how to make Chortopita (green pie), the 'traditional' way. That means that you make the dough yourself. Creating this dough is a very time-consuming work as you have to roll it, twist it, roll it, twist it, again and again until you have the right thickness and the right size. Please, be happy if it didn't work out the right way (from the first time). See it as another step forward in the 'training' process.

Even here in Greece we accept that only gia-gia (grandmother) knows how to make the perfect pita! It takes some time to figure out the right pressure on the dough rolling stick. These sticks are usually made from the wood of fruit trees as this wood is flexible but it doesn't bent.

If you are a beginner, and you really want to taste your self-made Greek pita, I suggest you not to bother with the dough and buy the fresh 'ready-made' dough from your local bakery.

On the bottom of this post I will reveal you a cheat/trick to create a 'perfect' (rolled) pita without bothering the whole process!

Ingredients:

• For the dough:
  - 500 gr. flour.
  - 25 ml. wine vinegar.
  - 50 ml. olive oil.
  - 300 ml. of water.
  - 1 teaspoon of salt.
  - some corn flour.
  

• For the filling:
  - 500 gr. spinach.
  - 300 gr. leeks.
  - 400 gr. Feta cheese.
  - 1 bunch of dill.
  - 1 bunch of parsley.

Preparation:

• For the filling:
  - Mix the spinach, leeks, dill, parsley and Feta.
  

• For the dough:
  - (1) Pre-warm the oven to 180° Celsius.
  - (2) Knead, in a bowl, the flour, wine vinegar, olive oil, salt and water. (so that it becomes a firm, elastic dough).
  - (3) Sprinkle the mixture with some flour.
  - (4) Cover the bowl with cling film.
  - (5) Put the bowl in the refrigerator for about 1 hour.
  - (6) Divide the dough into 6 equal parts.
  - (7) Knead each part into a ball.
  - (8) Sprinkle some corn flour on a (wooden) cutting board.
  - (9) Roll the dough ball out to a thin layer (about 3-5 mm), having a size slightly bigger then your oven tray .
  - (10) Repeat (8) to (9) for each ball.
  - (11) Oil the oven tray.
  - (12) Put the layer in the oven tray. (so that it overlaps the oven tray on each side for about 2 cm).
  - (13) Oil, with a brush, the top of this layer.
  - (14) Repeat (12) to (13) for 2 more layers.
  - (15) Spread the filling over the layer, covering the entire oven tray.
  - (16) Cover the filling, Repeating (12) to (13) for the other 3 layers.
  - (17) Put the oven tray in the oven.
  - (18) Bake for about 1 hour and 15 minutes or until auburn (golden-brown).

Cheat/trick: Create Chortopita rolls.

• - (1) Roll out the dough to a thin layer (about 3-5 mm).
  - (2) Cut triangles out of the dough with a base of about 7 cm and a height of 15 cm.
  - (3) Take one such triangle.
  - (4) Spread, about 2 cm above the base of the triangle, one tablespoon of the filling.
  - (5) Oil the rest of the triangle (up to the top) with olive oil.
  - (6) Roll the triangle, from the base up to the top.
  - (7) Repeat (3) to (6) for the other triangles.
  - (8) Oil the oven tray.
  - (9) Spread all the triangles equally on the oven tray.
  - (10) Bake for about 1 hour or until auburn (golden-brown).

Enjoy!