Recipe 6 - Kaltsounia (Καλτσούνια)

A very traditional Easter recipe from the island of Crete, this time. I know, I know, it’s not even Xmas yet and I’m putting up Easter recipes already. Well, first of all I love this sweet delicacy and secondly there is no reason why you should wait until Easter to make it!

It takes a bit of effort to make kaltsounia but, believe me, once made they tend to disappear very quickly from the plate. You can make a few more and store them away for 1-2 weeks, to serve with your coffee and tea.

Unfortunately, I do not have many step-by-step photos to go along with this recipe, because the last time I made them (last summer) I only took pictures of the final stages. Don’t worry, though. The instructions are very easy to follow and I will add more photos next time I make them.

Here we go then:

For the dough
1 cup    olive oil
1cup    milk
2 eggs
1 cup    sugar
1 tsp    baking powder
3 tbsp    freshly squeezed lemon juice
1kg    plain flour

For the filling
1.5 kg    Mizithra cheese (if you cannot find this Greek cheese, use ricotta cheese instead)
2 eggs
½ cup    sugar
1 tsp    ground cinnamon

1.    Mix the baking powder and the lemon juice.

2.    Mix all the dough ingredients together (including the baking powder/lemon juice mix) until smooth and it does not stick to the fingers.

3.    Cover it with a towel and let it rest for 1-2 hours.

4.    In a bowl, mix together the ingredients for the filling.

5.    Once the dough has been rested enough, roll it on a lightly floured surface until it’s about 1cm thick. (You can split the dough into 3 pieces and roll each one separately if you don’t have enough space).

6.    Cut the dough into circles of around 6-7cm in diameter. (You can cut it in larger ones up to 10cm but obviously you will have to fill them with more filling)

7.    Place a tsp of filling in the middle of each circle.

8.    Slowly bring the ends together to almost cover the filling, pinching it together to stay closed.

9.    Place them in a buttered baking tray.

10.    Brush the dough with beaten egg and sprinkle ground cinnamon on top.

11.    Cook in medium heat for about 20 minutes.