Kalitsounia anevata
Ingredients
For 40 pieces
- 1 1/2kg flour
- 1 cup of olive oil
- 1 cup of sugar
- 2 eggs
- 250g yogurt
- a pinch of vanilla
- 1 cup of sesame
- 1/2 tsp of mastic
- 2 tbs fresh yeast
For the filling
- 1kg fresh Cretan anthotyro or sweet myzithra cheese
- 2 tbs sugar
- 1 egg
- 3-4 tbs honey
- 1 tsp cinnamon
Directions
Dissolve the yeast in lukewarm water. Gradually add the flour until you have a very soft dough, which sticks to your hands. Cover the dough with a cotton towel and let it sit in a warm place for 3-4 hours to rise.
Pour the sugar into a bowl along with the olive oil, eggs and yogurt and knead them with your hands until they are well mixed. Add the risen dough with 1 more cup of warm water . In the rest of the flour mix the vanilla and the powdered mastic. Add it to the dough and knead well, until soft and fluffy, it should not stick to your hands. Cover the dough with a cotton towel and let it double in size.
Prepare the filling by mixing the cheese with the honey, the sugar, the egg and the cinnamon. Divide the dough into small pieces an roll out a thin pastry sheet, using a circular pastry cutter, which you then fill with a tablespoon of filling. Fold the pastry on all four sides so that no filling is visible to get a rectangular shape.
Let the kalitsounia pastries rise. When the are ready, use a brush to wet them with egg and sprinkle them with sesame. Bake them in preheated oven at 180° C until golden brown.