Pastries made with phyllo dough are crispy, flaky treats.
Not to be confused with buttery puff pastry, phyllo dough is crisp, flaky and paper-thin. Sold in the frozen food section of most grocery stores, packaged phyllo dough is typically used by home chefs. Though most commonly used in Middle Eastern and Mediterranean dishes, phyllo pastry is versatile enough to use in a variety of dishes and lends an elegant and sophisticated air to many appetizers and desserts.
Instructions
1. Thaw frozen phyllo dough in the refrigerator the night before you plan to use it. Do not refreeze the dough, as it will become too brittle to use.
2. Separate the sheets of phyllo dough after it has thawed. Typically there are 24 sheets per package. Once thawed, the sheets can be cut into smaller pieces or left whole depending on your recipe.
3. Cover the sheets of dough with a damp cloth until ready for use. Work with one sheet at a time, leaving the rest covered to prevent the dough from drying out. Most recipes call for you to moisten the sheets with melted butter or oil, so have that ready to go. The goal is to work quickly with the dough. If it sits out for too long, it gets too soft and dry to handle easily.
4. Baklava is a popular Greek pastry that contains chopped nuts and honey.
Fill, layer and shape the phyllo dough as called for in your recipe.
Popular ways to shape the dough include making purses and triangles. Either shape can hold a variety of vegetable, meat and cheese fillings.
Another option is to treat the sheets of dough as you would sheets of pasta when making lasagna. Spanakopita -- Greek spinach and feta pie -- and baklava are made in this fashion. These recipes call for layering sheets of phyllo dough and filling to create a flaky, slightly crispy treat.
5. Follow your recipe for the correct oven temperature and baking time. Essentially, you are looking for the phyllo dough to turn a light golden color with slightly crisp edges or tops, depending on the shape (see Resources).
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