Discover phyllo

What it is:
Fillo, filo or phyllo (from the Greek phyllon which means "leaf") is paper-thin sheet of dough made from water, flour and a bit of oil. When the sheets are layered and brushed lightly with melted butter or oil, they can be folded to become purses for sweet savoury fillings, stacked as mock puff pastry or spiced and cut into thin cookie-like wafers.

How to buy it:
Frozen phyllo dough is available in long rectangular boxes in most supermarkets. There are 18 to 20 sheets in each 1 lb (500 g) box. It must be thawed before using by refrigerating for up to 24 hours or letting stand at room temperature for about three hours.

How to use it:
Phyllo tends to dry out quickly so work as fast as possible and keep stack covered with damp towel. Rewrap unused phyllo and refrigerate it for up to two days. Leftover pastry is best suited to making wafers or items for which manipulation is required. Phyllo sheets that are dry, crumbly or severely torn are difficult to work with. If outer sheets of pastry are too torn to shape or roll, discard them and take new sheets farther down in the stack, otherwise filling may seep out during baking.

Slowly and gently pull phyllo sheets apart. If two sheets will not separate, leave together and brush with butter.

Baked phyllo is easier to cut with sharp serrated knife.

Here are more than 30 great recipes featuring phyllo:

Coconut Curried Chicken Phyllo Rolls
Flaky Phyllo Cups
Anna Kapelos' Phyllo Fruit Slices
Chicken Phyllo Bundles with Herbed Sabayon
Shrimp Phyllo Nests
Brie, Apple and Walnut Phyllo Triangles
Phyllo Cups with Crab Salad, and Goat Cheese and Tomatoes
Wild Mushrooms in Phyllo Crowns
Crab Salad in Phyllo Cups
Phyllo-Wrapped Apricot Cheesecake
Chicken Phyllo Bundles
Apple Walnut Phyllo Triangles
Phyllo-Topped Chicken Pot Pie
Cheese Strudel
Easy Apple Strudel
Mincemeat Strudel
Rhubarb Strudel
Easy Cheesy Tomato Tart
Strawberry White Chocolate Tart with Mascarpone
Salmon Strudels
Cherry Chocolate Baklava
Mushroom Red Pepper Pleated Puffs
Curried Lamb Triangles
Chicken and Mushroom Bundles
Raspberry White Chocolate Tart with Mascarpone
Apple Cherry Strudel Roll
Chicken and Mushroom Bundles
Lime-Buttered Scallops
Asparagus Soup with Parmesan Asparagus Strudel
Portobello Asparagus Strudels
Chocolate and Caramelized Banana Tarts

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