Wonderful Leek Pie...Greek Way

Leek Pie - Greek Style

My Leek Pie turned out wonderfully delicious and would love to share the recipe with all my relatives and friends and all you fantastic people out there who have the patience to read me...






You will need :
Serves 16 as an appetizer or 6-8 as a main dish with a salad on the side.
-  A round oven proof dish  30 cm diameter 5 cm deep or rectangular 40 cm x 30cms. x 7 cm deep.
-  A big wok or pan with high sides to saute the leeks etc.
-  6 nice thick leeks cut in two lengthwise, washed, and thinly sliced.
-  1 large onion thinly sliced.
-  1 small bunch of spring onions thinly sliced.



-  75 gr of olive oil.
-  1/3 cup all purpose flour.
-  ½ liter of milk.
-  2/3 cup unsalted chicken broth.
-  250 gr of any Greek hard cheese grated.
-  250 gr of Feta cheese crumbled.
-  1 bunch dill roughly cut.
-  Freshly ground black pepper to taste.
-  No Salt because you will add the cheeses which are salty.
-  600 gr (1 pack divided into two equal in weight pastries inside and wrapped separately) of any
rectangular pastry you can find. I used this Kourou pastry which is a lighter version of the puff pastry. Greece does not produce round pastries.

Special Liquid Vegetable Butter

Pastry Bought. Kourou Type.  Puff Pastry Would Do Fine

-  1 Tbsp. of melted fresh butter to brush oven proof dish with, to give the pie an even nicer taste.

Stir Frying The Onion, Spring Onion, Leeks.

To brush the surface of the pie before baking use ¼ cup milk with one egg beaten into it.
Method:
-  Heat olive oil in wok on high heat.
-  Add leek, onion, fresh onion slices and stir fry for about 10 minutes till all juices have evaporated, stirring continuously so the leeks, onion, fresh onions don't brown.
-  After the 10 minutes are over, add the flour,  mix and stir till it is all absorbed by the leeks etc. and there are no lumps of flour. Keep stirring for about one minute more to cook the flour.
-  Add the chicken broth and milk and continue stirring and mixing till you get a thick mixture.

 The Stuffing

-  Bring to a boil.
-  Lower heat and add the dill, and the cheeses. Mix well and stir.
-  Turn off heat and let cool.

Oven Proof Dish 30 x 40 x 7 c

-  Brush the bottom and sides of the oven proof dish with 1Tbsp. of the melted fresh butter.
-  Spread one of the sheets of pastry to cover the bottom and as much of the sides as possible.

Bottom Pastry.

-  Spread your leek mixture in the dish evenly.
-  Cover with the second piece of pastry trying to fold the lower pastry with the top one to seal the stuffing.

Covering The Filling With Top Pastry.

-  With a sharp point knife pre-cut the pie into squares or rectangles as you wish depending on whether you will use the pie as a starter or as a main dish.

Cutting The Pie According To Number Of People

Pre-cut The Pie Before Baking.

-  Brush the top of the pie with the egg/milk mixture to give the top a nice color after the baking.
Baking instructions:
-  Lower your oven shelf to the lowest level. Bake in a preheated oven for 30 minutes at 220 degrees C.
-  After 30 minutes, raise the shelf to middle of the oven and bake for another 30 minutes lowering the temperature to 200 degrees C. These temperatures and times are for my oven (don't forget we have this oven since 1985 I don't want to let it go. Too many good meals were cooked in it). You know your oven.

Bottom Side Of The Pie: Well Cooked And Nice Clolor

 -  After time is up take your pie out of the oven and let cool at least 30 minutes before serving otherwise it is too hot to enjoy.
The purpose of baking on the lower shelf  is to properly cook the bottom pastry otherwise it remains uncooked. I always test the degree of doneness of a pie by immediately checking the bottom side first.

Red Cabbage Salad With Olive Oil, Balsamic Vinegar, Freshly Ground Pepper, And Fajita Seasoning

Voila!!
Enjoy as a appetizer or a main dish with a red cabbage salad cut very very thin with an olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt, pepper and fajita seasoning dressing.
Stelio