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Whole wheat filo dough

Whole grain filo/phyllo pastry - soft, flaky, delicious and nutritious.

Ingredients

Whole Wheat Filo Pastry

  • 240 g whole wheat flour
  • 40 g cornstarch
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 egg
  • 2 teaspoons olive oil
  • 120 g hot water

Assembly

  • 50 g butter

Glaze

  • 1 egg
  • 2 heaped tablespoons Greek yoghurt

Instructions

Pastry

  • Put the dry ingredients in your mixing machine or in a bowl and combine well. Lightly beat the egg with the oil, then add to the dry ingredients. Start the machine, or start mixing, then add the hot water. Knead for about 8 minutes in your machine, or by hand for a bit longer - the mixture should be very supple and a touch sticky. If you are kneading by hand, you may need to add a little extra flour to enable you to manipulate the dough, but be aware that more flour will make it tougher. Rest the dough overnight in the fridge, or at least for a few hours if in a hurry - this allows the flour to properly absorb the moisture and makes the dough easier to work with.

Pie Assembly

  • Preheat the oven to 200c.
  • Melt the butter in a microwave or small saucepan over medium heat. Brush a little on all the sides of the baking tin/dish you will be using. Reserve the rest.
  • Cut the dough into six pieces. Keep the other pieces covered with plastic wrap when you are not rolling them, to stop them drying out.
  • Keeping everything well floured - this dough is quite wet, so can take more flour than you would typically use for rolling out filo - run a piece through the pasta machine on the first setting. Work your way through the settings, sprinkling more flour as necessary, until you reach 6 or 7, or you feel the dough is too delicate to continue rolling. You will probably need to cut the sheet in half once you reach setting 4 or 5, so it is a more manageable length. Lay the waiting half on a lightly floured surface while you work with the other half. Be careful when using whole wheat that there aren't any large kernels in the mix or pieces of very dry dough stuck to the rollers, as they can cause your pastry to tear as it runs through the machine - very frustrating!
  • When it is rolled as thinly as possible, arrange the piece inside the buttered baking tin/dish, trimming with scissors as necessary. Once you have a full layer, brush the whole lot with butter. Continue working until you have three or four layers, depending on how thick you want the pastry, brushing with butter between each layer. It really doesn't matter if your pieces tear, overlap or look uneven - they will still bake beautifully.
  • Add the filling, then repeat the dough rolling technique for the top, adding another three to four layers, remembering to brush with butter after each layer. Tidy up the edges by poking any excess down the sides of the tin/dish.

Glaze

  • When you have finished assembling, beat together the other egg and the yoghurt. Using a pastry brush, apply half the glaze to the top of the pie or börek. Half way through baking, brush over the rest of the glaze. Bake until well browned all over, about 45-60 minutes, depending on your oven and what size and thickness of pie/börek you have made. To ensure even browning, it is best to turn the pie around half way, when you apply the second layer of glaze.

Notes

This recipe makes enough for one 30cm pie, with enough for four layers top and bottom and a little left over for mistakes. These instructions are for assembling such a pie. To see how to make thin, coiled rolls of börek, follow the instructions here. Can also be used for making individual pies - the possibilities are endless!