This thin and extra crispy Cheese Pie is made inside a sheet pan. It gets baked in just 20 minutes and keeps nice and crispy till the next day (if it survives that long!).
If you are familiar with phyllo pies, then you will surely have noticed that the phyllo tends to get soggy after a while. Well, this isn't the case with this Cheese Pie. Because this pie is made and baked inside a sheet pan. Therefore, the surface of the pie is bigger and the pie itself is thinner, which makes it extra crispy. Plus, the filling is nice and thick without too much moisture to wet the phyllo. And this is my favorite part of this pie. It really makes the phyllo shine in this recipe!
Cheese Pie Ingredients
For the filling, all you need to make this delicious pie, are two types of cheeses, Feta cheese and Anthotyro (Greek-style Ricotta), fresh milk, and rice flour. No eggs, and no need to cook the filling. All the ingredients are simply mixed inside a bowl.
And if you can't find Anthotyro cheese, simply use Ricotta or another type of similar cheese. Another Greek cheese that's similar to Anthotyro and Ricotta is Myzithra cheese. Which is much used in pies here in Greece.
This cheese pie filling is not like a Classic Cheese Pie which is usually very creamy, made with Bechamel cream. It's actually lighter in flavor and thicker in texture.
For the base of this pie, you need 1 package of phyllo dough, butter, and corn oil (you can use sunflower oil also) for greasing the phyllo.
To properly unfreeze the phyllo, leave it in the fridge overnight. Then remove from the fridge 1 hour before making the pie to reach room temperature. This way it is much easier to work with.
Sheet Pan Size
You will need a half sheet pan or your ovens tray. The size is pretty much the same about 18 x 13-inch / 46 x 33 cm and about 3 cm / 1 inch high. You can always use any other type of pan as long as it is big enough. One of the reasons I use a sheet pan for this recipe, other than achieving a thin and crispy pie, is because it is much easier to place the phyllo. It gets a bit more complicated when using a deeper pan and have to leave the phyllo to hang out on the sides, so you can overlap at the end and secure the filling. This process is a piece of cake with a sheet pan.
Serve With 🠯
You can serve this pie drizzled with honey and sesame on top. Just like this Fried Feta Cheese Wrapped In Phyllo. The feta cheese, honey, and sesame combination is really to die for. And suits this pie so well!
As for side dishes, serve with any one of these: Greek Yogurt Beetroot Salad Dip, a Classic Greek Salad, Eggplant Dip (Melitzanosalata, or even some Tzatziki.
Recipe
30-minute Greek Cheese Pie (with Feta and Anthotyro)
Ingredients
- 1 package (450 grams) phyllo pastry sheets unfreeze in the fridge overnight
- 280 grams / 9.9 oz rice flour
- 420 grams / 14.8 oz fresh milk
- 450 grams / 15.9 oz Feta cheese crumbled
- 300 grams / 10.6 oz Anthotyro cheese (or ricotta, or cottage cheese) crumbled
- 150 grams / 5.3 oz butter melted
- 80 grams / 2.8 oz corn oil (or sunflower oil)
Instructions
- Before you start making the pie, let the phyllo within its package at room temperature for about 1 hour.
- Preheat oven at 220°C / 428°F.In a mixing bowl, add the rice flour. Start pouring the milk while stirring constantly with a hand whisk until a thick mixture forms. Stir in the Feta and Anthotyro cheese as well.
- Mix together the melted butter with the corn or sunflower oil. Keep aside along with a pastry brush.
- Take a half sheet pan (18 x 13-inch / 46 x 33 cm) or your oven's tray pan and place it on your working surface. Grease the pan well with the butter and oil mixture.
- Unwrap the phyllo from its package and lay it open next to the pan.
- Take two phyllo sheets and place them in the pan. The phyllo should cover the height of the pan on one side. Grease well with the butter mixture again.
- Then add two more phyllo sheets covering the height of the pan on the opposite side this time. Grease again with butter mixture.
- Now add one phyllo sheet covering the center of the pan crossing the other ones and covering one of the uncovered edges of the pan. Grease with butter and add one more phyllo exactly the same way covering the height of the last edge of the pan that was left uncovered.
- Grease with butter and add the filling on top. Spread it evenly with a spoon.
- Place all of the remaining phyllo sheets two by two (no need to cover the edges this time). Greasing well with the butter mixture after every two phyllo sheets. It doesn't matter if they tear or crumble a bit.
- Once you have placed all of the phyllo sheets, overlap and tuck in the edges, to create a pie ending on all sides. Sprinkle all of the remaining butter on top. Add 1,5 tablespoon of water in the bowl or pot you kept the melted butter and scrape any of its leftovers, with the pastry brush. Then drizzle this water all over the pie. With the pastry brush gently tap on top for the phyllo to stick together.
- Scar the top phyllo's with a knife, dividing into 16 square pieces (don't let the knife reach all the way to the bottom). Bake for about 20 minutes until golden brown on top. Shake the pan a bit to see if the pie moves in the pan, to make sure it's baked at the bottom as well.
- Cut and serve the pie. Once the pie has reached room temperature you may keep it inside your oven or in a food container for up to a day at room temperature (20-25 degrees Celcius). It won't spoil because the feta cheese is salty enough to preserve it. If you have leftovers beyond that, that you need to refrigerate, then you may reheat the pie in the microwave on medium after taking it out of the fridge.
Nutrition
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Hi!
Beautiful website, looking forward to making this recipe!
Couple of questions:
1) can the pie be made ahead and then just put in the oven when ready to eat?
2) there is no oven temperature shown! Guessing hot? I have a fan forced oven
Thanks!
Tori
Thank you, Tori. Sure you can make it ahead. You can make it the previous day and bake it the next day. The temperature is 220°C / 428°F. I'm sorry for the inconvenience I updated the recipe.