Albanian Leek Pie
Serves 8
Byrek ose Lakror emerges from the oven with a beautiful, shining crust. Cut into the pie too soon, however, and your dreams will shatter. You must wait a full hour for the pie’s juices to redistribute.
Ingredients:
Leek Filling
2 large leeks, cleaned and very thinly sliced (use only the white/light green part. Thick slices and/or green parts won’t cook properly)
6 eggs
1/4 cup greek yogurt (or regular yogurt strained for 30 minutes)
1 lbs. cottage cheese, strained for 30 minutes
4 oz crumbled feta cheese
1/2 tsp minced fresh thyme, or dried thyme, ground
salt, to taste (remember, feta cheese is very salty)
1/2 tsp pepper
Pie Crust
1 package puff pastry
1 egg, beaten
Method:
1. Preheat oven to 400F.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together all ingredients, except for leeks. When the mixture is smooth and blended, add diced leeks. Set aside.
3. Roll one sheet of puff pastry into a 15″ circle. Place pastry on the bottom of a 9″ pie dish.
NOTE: You can also lay the puff pastry down in your pie dish square. Just angle the top piece over it, so that you create a “star.” This overlap will give you enough crust to roll the edges.
4. Fill pie dish with leek mixture.
5. Roll second sheet of puff pastry into a 15″ circle. Cover the pie with the pastry lid. Press the edges together and roll up to seal in the juices. Brush the top of the pastry with egg wash.
6. Bake for 45 minutes or until golden brown.
7. Let cool 1 hour before slicing or the filling will fall apart. Eat slightly warm or at room temperature. I had a slice cold from the fridge the next day and it was great! If you are a fan of cold pizza, you’ll understand 🙂
The filling sets up after properly cooling.
Adapted from http://www.frosina.org
| Servings | Prep Time |
| 8 people | 15 minutes |
| Cook Time | Passive Time |
| 45 minutes | 1.5 hours |
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Byrek ose Lakror emerges from the oven with a beautiful, shining crust. Cut into the pie too soon, however, and your dreams will shatter. You must wait a full hour for the pie's juices to redistribute.
|
- 2 large leeks , cleaned and very thinly sliced
- 6 eggs
- 1/4 cup Greek yogurt
- 1 lbs cottage cheese
- 4 oz feta cheese , crumbled
- 1/2 tsp thyme (freshly minced) — or ground thyme
- salt , to taste
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- 1 Pie Crust
- 1 package puff pastry
- 1 egg , beaten
- Strain the cottage cheese for 30 minutes, then preheat oven to 400F.
- Meanwhile: In a large bowl, whisk together all ingredients, except for leeks. Set aside.
- Roll one sheet puff pastry into a 15" circle. Place pastry on the bottom of a 9" pie dish. NOTE: You can also lay the puff pastry down in your pie dish square. Just angle the top piece over it, so that you create a "star". This overlap will give you enough crust to roll the edges.
- Fill pie dish with leek mixture.
- Roll second sheet of puff pastry into a 15" circle. Cover the pie with the pastry lid. Press the edges together and roll up to seal in the juices. Brush the top of the pastry with the egg wash.
- Bake for 45 minutes or until golden brown.
- Let cool 1 hour before slicing or the filling will fall apart.
- Eat slightly warm or at room tempature.
For the leeks: use only the white/light green part. Thick slices and/or green parts won't cook properly.
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