Sweet. Salty. Creamy. Crunchy. I was introduced to this incredible dish, traditionally served as part of a mezze appetiser, in Greece. And since then I haven't been able to stop thinking about it. Luckily, not only is it super quick and easy to create - but it only needs a handful of ingredients and can be made ahead of time.
Time to prepare : 5 minutes
Time to cook : 20 minutes
Total time to make : 25 minutes
Servings : 2 (half a block per serve)
Ingredients
1 tbsp butter
1/2 tbsp olive oil
2 x Filo pastry sheets (for every 1 block of feta)
Feta cheese*
Honey, to drizzle
1/2 tbsp sesame seeds
Method
Preheat the oven to 220°C/200°C fan and line a small baking tray with baking paper.
Melt the butter over a low heat (or in the microwave) and mix in a small bowl or mug together with the olive oil. This will be our pastry 'glue'.
Take one sheet of filo pastry* and brush it all over with the butter and olive oil mixture using a pastry brush. Lay the second sheet of filo pastry on top. Repeat by brushing the butter and olive oil mixture on top of the second sheet.
Pat your feta cheese block with kitchen towel to absorb any excess liquid and lay it on the filo sheets, about 1/4 of the way from the bottom. Fold the bottom ends of the filo over the feta block, then tightly fold the feta block over, wrapping it in the pastry sheets, creating a parcel.
Trim the sides down into a triangle like an envelope and tuck under to parcel. Use the olive oil and butter mixture to brush over the pastry sheets every time you 'fold' the sheets over, this acts as a glue to keep them tightly wrapped together.
Finally, give the wrapped feta parcel a brush all over the outside so it goes golden brown and lay it seam-side-down on the baking tray.
Bake for ~ 20 minutes until golden and crispy. If the underside is not crispy at this stage, you can flip it over carefully with a cheese-slice and bake for another 5 minutes. Remove from the oven and carefully slip onto a serving plate.
Drizzle over with honey whilst still piping hot and scatter over the sesame seeds to serve. Enjoy whilst warm.
Nutritional Information (per 1/2 block)
324 calories
16g fat, 32g carbohydrate, 12g protein
Good to know:
You can trim the filo pastry sheets to size using a pizza cutter or sharp knife if you like, to make a neater parcel, just as you would wrapping a book in wrapping paper.
Filo pastry can be bought frozen (defrost for ~ 1 hr before use) or in the fridge section, ready to be used straight away. It's super thin and can dry easily once it's removed from it's packaging, so work quickly or use a damp kitchen towel to keep it covered and supple.
Use good quality feta cheese as it's the main star of this dish. Greek feta in brine is best as it's not only more flavoursome but less crumbly. This usually comes in 'blocks'. Make sure you remove any excess moisture with a paper towel to ensure the parcel gets nice and crispy.
You can dry-toast the sesame seeds over a high heat for 2 minutes if you want an extra level of flavour or to add some colour to white sesame seeds.
To make this ahead, complete the recipe to step 4, finishing before the final butter/oil brushing on the outside of the feta parcel. Wrap tightly in cling film and keep in the fridge for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 3 months. Defrost overnight before baking from frozen. Bake from chilled.