Homemade Albanian Pite
This recipe is not for the weak-hearted. It sounds
very complicated, but I promise, it’s only slightly complicated! Watching
someone make pite is much easier than reading about it, so maybe one of these
days I’ll make a video recipe. Until then, good luck and email me if you have
any questions!
Ingredients:
Dough:
-
2 cups water (lukewarm)
-
3/4 tsp salt
-
2 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
(evoo)
-
3,5 to 4 c. all-purpose flour
Butter Mixture:
-
4 tbsp butter
-
4 tbsp evoo
Filling:
-
1/2 lb. fresh spinach, chopped
into ribbons
-
2 cups Feta cheese
Directions:
Dough:
Mix salt, water and oil together in a medium-sized
bowl. Slowly add in flour until mixture forms a dough. Knead on a floured
surface for about 5 minutes, or until the dough becomes smooth, not sticky.
Place the dough in a clean bowl, cover with a damp cloth and let sit for 1/2 an
hour. (preferably in a warm place. I usually turn my oven on “warm” and let the
bowl sit on the range during this time. It works like a charm!)
Butter Mixture:
Melt together on the stove over “low” then set aside
until needed.
Filling:
Stack handfuls of spinach in neat piles and then roll
the stacks up like cigars. Chop spinach rolls width-wise so that you get thin
ribbons. Place the spinach ribbons in a colander over a large bowl. Sprinkle 1
tablespoon of salt over the spinach and let it sit until you need it later. The
spinach will sweat out all excess water during this process.
Putting it all together:
1. After dough has risen, place it on a floured
surface.
2. Roll it with your hands into a snake-like shape
(think kindergartners planing with clay!)
3. Cut off golf-ball sized pieces (I got about 28 out
of my dough).
4. Form the pieces into balls by folding the edges of
the dough inward. Flip over so the smooth side of the dough balls faces up.
5. With a rolling pin, flatten the dough balls into
about 3-4″ circles/ovals (you want the dough as thin as possible).
6. Take each dough circle and individually stretch
them out even further by hand (think pizza-making!).
7. As you stretch out each circle, you want to start
stacking them on top of each other and sealing the edges of each together. In
between each layer, brush on some of the butter mixture. So, it’ll go:
-Stretched one circle of dough, lay it on the table
-Brush on butter mixture (cover the entire surface)
-Stretch another circle of dough
-Lay the second circle on top of the first, and pull
the edges of the second circle so it aligns with the first circle
-Press edges together so they fuse
-REPEAT
You’ll want to make three piles of these stacks of
dough circles. 1 pile will have 5 layers; this will be your inner layer on the
pie. The 2 other piles will be your bottom layer and top layer of the pie.
These two stacks should have about an equal amount of dough layers.
NOW you get to assemble the actual pie. Preheat your
oven to 375*
8. Brush a little of the butter mixture on the bottom
of a 9×13″ baking sheet. Move your bottom layer of dough (stretch it further as
you move it) and place on the baking sheet. Stretch the dough so it covers the
bottom of the pan and pinch the edges of the dough directly to the pan so it
sticks.
9. Squeeze the water from your spinach and then
spread half evenly on the dough.
10. Sprinkle some feta evenly on top of the spinach.
Amount is to you taste.
11. Drizzle a little butter mixture over the spinach
& feta.
12. Repeat steps 8-11 with your thinner middle layer
of dough.
13. Place the top layer of dough on top pinch the
corners of the dough together so all edges of the pie are sealed.
14. Brush MORE butter on the top of the dough.
15. Place dough in oven and bake until the top is
nice and brown (my oven took about 45 minutes for this, yours will probably be
different!).
16. Slice and serve immediately. Leftovers are quite
delicious too!
Share this
EmoticonEmoticon