Home-made Cretan "agnopitakia" (cheese-pies)
Ingredients
For the dough
- all-purpose flour: 500g
- dried yeast: 2 tsp
- fresh milk: ½ glass
- lukewarm water: 1/2 cup
- olive oil: ½ glass
- salt: pinch
For the filling & the frying
- egg yolk: 1
- feta cheese: 100 g
- anthotyro cheese*: 250 g
- olive oil or seed oil for frying
Directions
Dissolve the yeast in lukewarm water. Pour the flour into a mixing bowl and make a well in the center. Pour the yeast, the milk and the oil into the well adding a pinch of salt. Knead with your hands until you get a soft and smooth dough that doesn’t stick to your fingers. Set aside to rest for 25΄-30΄.
Crumble the feta and the anthotyro cheese in a bowl and stir in the egg yolk. Take small chunks of the dough and shape them into small spheres. Make a hole in each ball with your finger, fill with a little of the cheese mixture and seal the edges shaping it into a patty or a ball.
Heat a generous lug of olive oil or seed oil and fry the agnopitakia until golden brown on all sides. Drain on absorbent paper and serve.
*Anthotyro Cheese is a traditional fresh cheese produced in Greece, commonly in Thrace, Macedonia, the Ionian Islands and Crete. It is white, soft, with a sweet, creamy taste and has no salt.