Tyropita and tyropitakia, with Kourou phyllo

ByIvy Liacopoulou
31 Comments
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Tyropita Kourou is a cheese pie made with a type of phyllo which I would describe somewhat like shortcrust pastry.

Kourou is an unleavened phyllo, light and flaky due to the butter, eggs and yoghurt it contains.

In Greece you can get many types of tyropita (cheese pie) the most popular being homemade "horiatiko", meaning village phyllo.

However, you can also get other types of tyropita such as made with phyllo kroustas (the one used to make baklvas, puff pastry, kataifi, patsavouropita, tyropitari, and of course kourou phyllo, etc.

Each one has a very different texture and taste but each one is better than the other.

Eggless Basic Kourou phyllo

The basic kourou phyllo is made with flour butter, Greek yoghurt, egg and salt.

However, you can also skip the egg in the dough, in which case less flour is added to the dough.

Ingredients:

  • 250 grams  butter
  • 200 grams Greek yoghurt
  • 500 grams self-raising flour or all-purpose flour with 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon salt

Directions:

  1. Cut the butter into smaller pieces.
  2. Put the flour and salt in a bowl.
  3. Add the butter and mix with a spoon until mixture becomes crumbly and resembles coarse meal.
  4. Add the yoghurt and mix until the ingredients are completely combined and the mixture comes together nicely.
  5. As soon as the dough starts to form, continue kneading by hand.
  6. Turn dough to a lightly floured surface and form into a ball. It should come together easily without being sticky.
  7. Flatten ball slightly with your hands to form a thick disc. Wrap with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least half an hour.
  8. Cut the dough into smaller pieces.
  9. Roll the dough on a non-stick surface covered with cling film or between parchment paper until desired thickness.
Collage making kourou phyllo image

The filling:

The filling is usually made only with feta.

However, a mixture of other cheese like anthotyro, xynomyzithra or goat cheese takes it to another level.

I added NOTHING at all in the filling: no eggs, no cream, no pepper NOTHING, just to highlight the taste of the cheese.

If your cheese tastes good, then your tyropita will be perfect.

When I made the tyropitakia (mini cheese turnovers) I made a different filling.

Cheese filling for kourou tyropita image

Cover on top with another layer of phyllo and score into pieces.

Tyropita kourou scored before baking image
Tyropita kourou baked image

You may also make loukanikopitakia (sausage pie) with this phyllo: Encase a Frankfurt sausage in the phyllo, brush with egg or olive oil and bake until golden.

Loukanikopita cut image

See also my recipe for Rolo (Meat roulade with eggs).

Rolo Kima me phyllo gourou image

Tyropitakia with Kourou Phyllo

tyropitakia kourou image

Makes 16:

  • Half of the above amount for phyllo

Filling:

  • 100 grams feta
  • 50 grams anthotyro (similar to ricotta)
  • 1 egg
  • Freshly grated black pepper
  • ½ cup finely chopped fresh mint or 1 tablespoon dried (optional)
  • Egg wash or olive oil to brush on top

Directions:

  1. In a bowl, break the egg and add the cheeses, which crumble using a fork. Add salt, pepper and mint.
  2. Roll out the phyllo and cut round pieces using a cookie cutter. Put a teaspoon of cheese on one side and fold to cover the cheese. Press the dough with your fingers to seal the cheese.
  3. Brush with egg wash or olive oil and place on a baking tray lined with parchment paper.
  4. Bake in a preheated oven to 180 degrees C for half an hour or until golden brown.
Collage Tyropitakia kourou image
Tyropita Kourou image

Tyropita with Kourou Phyllo

Yield: 15
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 45 minutes
Additional Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 45 minutes

Tyropita Kourou is a cheese pie made with a type of phyllo made with flour, butter, egg and yoghurt, which I would describe somewhat like shortcrust pastry.

5.0 Stars (1 Review)

Ingredients

For the Dough:

  • 600 grams of self raising flour
  • 250 grams butter
  • 200 grams Greek yoghurt
  • 1 egg
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice
  • ½ teaspoon sugar
  • Olive oil to brush the baking tin and the phyllo

For the filling

  • 600 grams of Greek feta
  • 400 grams of other cheese (I used xynomyzithra, a Cretan cheese) (or just use 1 kilo feta)

Instructions

  1. Bring yoghurt to room temperature and mix with the egg and lemon juice.
  2. Cut the butter into small pieces and mix with the flour, salt and sugar in the mixer's bowl. You can either mix the dough by hand or with the dough hook. Add the yoghurt mixture and mix until you have a soft dough which does not stick on the mixer bowl and on your hands. Cover with cling film, refrugerate and let it rest for half an hour.
  3. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C / 350 F and
    grease a 30 x 25 cm baking tin with olive oil.
  4. Flour your working surface and divide the dough
    into four pieces. The two pieces which will be on the bottom must be slightly bigger as they will cover the sides of the tin.
  5. Roll the dough out into a phyllo about 0,3
    centimetres, trying to give it the shape of the tin. Roll the phyllo between parchment paper, as it is easy to invert the phyllo into the tin.
  6. After placing the first phyllo, brush it with olive oil and then add the second phyllo. Spread the cheese on the phyllo and
    continue with third (brushing with oil) and the fourth. If your phyllo is bigger than the edge of the tin cut it with a knife and then you must join all phyllos together, trying to shape them. This is usually done with the fingers but I used tweezers to do this.
  7. Finally brush the last phyllo with olive oil and slightly score with a sharp knife.
  8. Bake in a preheated oven to 180 degrees C for about 45 minutes or until golden brown.
Nutrition Information
Yield 15 Serving Size 1
Amount Per Serving Calories 500Total Fat 33gSaturated Fat 20gTrans Fat 1gUnsaturated Fat 10gCholesterol 111mgSodium 804mgCarbohydrates 34gFiber 1gSugar 3gProtein 17g

Did you make this recipe?

Tried this recipe? Tag me @ivyliac and use the hashtag #kopiaste!

© Ivy Liacopoulou
Cuisine: Greek Cuisine / Category: Phyllo Pastry

Tyropita (More Greek cheese pies)

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Kopiaste and Kali Orexi!

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31 Comments

  1. Thanks everybody for your love comments.

    Lulu, I haven't made actual sausages yet.

  4. Looks tasty,Bookmarked.but I have a question?Is spanakopita another version of this.I have heard a recipe "spanakotyropita"-is there such a dish.Please do confirm.

  5. Hi Sweatha and welcome. Spanakopita means spinach pie and is a pie with spinach (some other greens can also be added, such as silver beet or Swiss Chard and some herbs). This is our lenten version. On other occasions we add cheese (tyri) usually feta, and although we call that spanakopita as well, some people want to call it spanakotyropita to emphasize the use of cheese in it. The phyllo for spanakopita is the plain one mentioned in my post.
    This is totally different than spanakopita as the phyllo is different and of course the filling.

    and the lenten version
    http://www.kopiaste.org/2008/04/spanakopita-nistisimi-lenten-cyprus/

  6. This is an excellent dish to represent Greece sis. Thank you so much for participating in our attempts to bring attention to World Food Day and to feed the world!!!!

  7. Val. what are blogging sisters for if we don't help each other. I am now working on the post for my entry for Cyprus.

  8. That's really interesting--I've never seen a pie like this, but it looks absolutely delicious! I wish I could get my hands on a high enough quality cheese to make this. One of these days, for sure

  10. I have never had this kind of dough, Ivy, but wow does it look good. Your pita has my mouth watering with all that creamy cheesy filling!

  11. How I would love to eat at your house. I'm just drooling over that delicious feta. What a delightful dish!

  13. i'll submit my entry for your event this week, ivy. am not well at the moment, but hey... i'm managing. looks a great pie!!

  14. Hey Sis...today is World Food Day!!! I wanted to thank you wholeheartedly for sharing this experience with me. Come on over and join our conga line!!!

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