These golden pastry leaves are easy to use and glamorous to serve.
"The falling leaves drift by the window / The autumn leaves of red and gold …" as the song goes.
If you think of autumn leaves as the end of summer, the mood is melancholy. On the other hand, it also means the beginning of fall, a season to fire up the kitchen after a summer of salads and backyard grilling.
However, the leaves I'm after are the gossamer-thin sheets of phyllo dough that turn ordinary ingredients into buttery and crunchy delights. So many home cooks suffer from an unnecessary "fear of phyllo." Just make sure to keep your stack of sheets covered so they don't dry out during the assembly of your recipe, and the results will quell any residual anxiety. I've included two classics from the Greek tradition: spanikopita and baklava. The first uses a spinach-and-cheese filling in little folded triangles. The second wraps a nut filling that gets drenched with honey syrup. Both would be great to take on a road trip to see the fall foliage.
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Ingredients:
2 pounds frozen spinach
2 bunches scallions
4 eggs
1 pound feta cheese
1 tablespoon dried mint
Black pepper
1 pound phyllo dough
1/2 pound butter, melted
Filling:
Defrost spinach and drain through sieve. Press out as much moisture as possible. Chop scallions, including white tips and some light-green stalks. Beat eggs lightly in large bowl; add crumbled feta cheese, scallions and spinach. Season with mint and black pepper.
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Preparation:
Defrost phyllo according to package directions. Remove dough from box, unroll and place flat on work surface, covering with cloth or plastic wrap to prevent drying out. Remove 1 sheet and recover pile. Use a pizza cutter to cut sheet in half long-way, creating two 6-by-16-inch strips. Brush half of each with melted butter and fold over long-way making two 3-by-16-inch strips. Butter tops of each. Place 1 tablespoon of filling at bottom of each strip. Fold it over filling to create a triangle then continue folding (like a flag) all the way up the strip. Repeat with second strip. Place on buttered baking tray and butter tops. Repeat with other sheets of phyllo. This recipe will make 40 3-inch triangles. You can cut the recipe in half or freeze some to be baked later. There is no need to defrost. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 to 35 minutes or until golden-brown and crispy.
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