28 November 2010

Recipe 6 - Kaltsounia (Καλτσούνια)


A very traditional Easter recipe from the island of Crete, this time. I know, I know, it’s not even Xmas yet and I’m putting up Easter recipes already. Well, first of all I love this sweet delicacy and secondly there is no reason why you should wait until Easter to make it!

It takes a bit of effort to make kaltsounia but, believe me, once made they tend to disappear very quickly from the plate. You can make a few more and store them away for 1-2 weeks, to serve with your coffee and tea.

Unfortunately, I do not have many step-by-step photos to go along with this recipe, because the last time I made them (last summer) I only took pictures of the final stages. Don’t worry, though. The instructions are very easy to follow and I will add more photos next time I make them.

Here we go then:

For the dough
1 cup    olive oil
1cup    milk
2 eggs
1 cup    sugar
1 tsp    baking powder
3 tbsp    freshly squeezed lemon juice
1kg    plain flour

For the filling
1.5 kg    Mizithra cheese (if you cannot find this Greek cheese, use ricotta cheese instead)
2 eggs
½ cup    sugar
1 tsp    ground cinnamon

1.    Mix the baking powder and the lemon juice.

2.    Mix all the dough ingredients together (including the baking powder/lemon juice mix) until smooth and it does not stick to the fingers.

3.    Cover it with a towel and let it rest for 1-2 hours.

4.    In a bowl, mix together the ingredients for the filling.

5.    Once the dough has been rested enough, roll it on a lightly floured surface until it’s about 1cm thick. (You can split the dough into 3 pieces and roll each one separately if you don’t have enough space).

6.    Cut the dough into circles of around 6-7cm in diameter. (You can cut it in larger ones up to 10cm but obviously you will have to fill them with more filling)

7.    Place a tsp of filling in the middle of each circle.

8.    Slowly bring the ends together to almost cover the filling, pinching it together to stay closed.

9.    Place them in a buttered baking tray.

10.    Brush the dough with beaten egg and sprinkle ground cinnamon on top.

11.    Cook in medium heat for about 20 minutes.

2 comments:

  1. Hi! What do you do with the baking powder and lemon juice? It is listed as part of the ingredients for the dough, but you don't say when to add it. Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi. I have now amended the instructions. Thanks for noticing!

    ReplyDelete