SPIRAL TIROPITA
A spiral tiropita is a beloved Greek savoury pastry made from layers of crispy phyllo dough wrapped around a rich, tangy filling of feta and other cheeses, often enriched with eggs, then baked until golden and flaky. It’s typically shaped into coils or spirals (called “koulouri” style depending on region) and served hot or at room temperature as a snack, meze or breakfast.
While tiropita in various forms is found across Greece, the spiral version is particularly associated with mainland regions and the countryside where home bakers shape individual spirals on baking trays. Island and regional variations include adding different local cheeses (like mizithra, graviera or kasseri), herbs such as dill or mint, greens like spinach (creating a spanakotiropita hybrid), or using butter versus olive oil to brush the phyllo for differing richness and flakiness.
SPIRAL TIROPITA
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SPIRAL TIROPITA 〰️
(GREEK CHEESE PIE)
Time: 2 hours
Serves: 8
600gm feta, finely crumbed
600gm ricotta
3 eggs
2 tbl sp dried mint
1 tbl sp nutmeg
16 sheets filo (frozen works, make sure they are thawed completely when ready to go).
Olive oil, lots
White sesame seeds
Preheat oven to 170 degrees Celsius.
In a bowl bring together your feta, ricotta, dried mint, nutmeg, pinch of salt, drizzle of olive oil and 2 of your eggs. Get breaking it down with your fingers until you have a homogenous but really smooth filling with no big chunks of feta.
Grab one filo sheets, drizzle some olive oil with a brush before layering a second one on top and pushing together and drizzling more oil on top. Line your cheese filling near the bottom and roll up until your have a filled tube. Roll into a snail shape, and place on lined baking tray and continue this process until all your sheets of filo have been used.
Once your spiral is complete, whisk your remaining egg and egg wash your filo. Sprinkle on sesame seeds covering spiral and then cook for 80 - 85 minutes, or until golden and flaky. Serve in slices of pieces straight from the oven. You want to eat this hot, so if having it the next day reheat it, even a microwave for 60 seconds will do the trick.