Kalitsounia

Eli K. Giannopoulos

Cretan sweet cheese pastry

Print Recipe

Prep Time 1 20

Cook Time 25

Course Dessert

Cuisine Greek

Servings 10

Ingredients

Dough

1 cup olive oil ( see #1 below )
1 cup Greek yogurt ( see #2 below )
1 egg large
1.5 cup sugar
35 oz flour (1 kg, or approx 6 cups )
4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2-3 tbsp orange juice (half an orange)
1 tbsp lemon zest (one large lemon)

Filling

35 oz fresh, soft myzithra cheese (1 kg) ( see #3 below )
1 cup sugar
2 eggs 1 whole egg, and 1 egg white ( see #4 below )
1 tsp powdered cinnamon

Topping

2 eggs large ( see #4 below )
1 tbsp water
1 tbsp powdered cinnamon
1-2 tbsp honey for drizzing on the finished pastry ( optional )

Instructions

Dough

To prepare the dough for the cheese pastries (kalitsounia), add into a large bowl the olive oil, sugar, yogurt and eggs; blend well, using your hands, until the ingredients combine.
Pour in the orange juice, the lemon zest and vanilla extract and blend again.
Sieve the flour with the baking powder and add gradually to the mixture.
Knead the dough with your hands, until it softens. Depending on the flour, you may need to use a little bit less or more flour than the recipe calls for. The dough should be soft, but not sticky.
Let the dough rest for 30 minutes.

Filling

Mash the cheese into a large bowl, add the sugar, the eggs and the cinnamon; blend well, until the ingredients combine.

Assembly

Place the dough on a floured surface.
Using a rolling pin, roll out the dough to a thickness of about 0.3 cm (1/8", or 2 quarters).
Using a 10cm (4") cutter, cut out some circles.
Add a tablespoonful of the cheese mixture in the center of each dough circle and spread it around.
Raise the rim of the dough up around the cheese and using your fingers, pinch the edges to pull the dough in around the cheese, leaving the center open.
Preheat the oven to 180C (355F).
Place the cheese pastries on a large baking tray, lined with parchment paper and leave to rest for 20 minutes.

Topping

Into a bowl, whisk 2 eggs plus remaining yolk, and 1 tbsp of water and brush the pastries.
Sprinkle cinnamon powder on top.

Finally

Bake for 25 minutes, until golden brown.
Serve with a drizzle of the optional honey.

Notes

#1 Do not use EVOO because the flavour might be overpowering.

#2 You can strain regular yogurt by letting it hang in a cheese cloth and let the whey drip off. This is the only difference between "regular" (bad) yogurt and Greek (awesome) yougurt.

#3 Marscapone or ricotta are recommended substitutions if fresh myzithra is not available.

#4 I used the other egg yolk in the topping.