Albanian Squash Pie

My mom was the most amazing cook.

Truly. She was the best.

And over the years, I've shared some of her delicious recipes.


However.

So far, I've only shared the Italian recipes.

You see, my dad was Sicilian and my mother learned how to make all of his favorites...and make them like she was born in Italy herself.

But she wasn't. She was Albanian.

And while Albania is only about 45 nautical miles from Italy, the cuisine couldn't be more different.

Needless to say, growing up, there was no shortage of good food in my house.

Of course, everyone has favorites and mine was my mother's byrek...which in English means pie.

And for us, it was spinach or squash pie.

Both were delicious, but for some reason, I'd convinced myself they were difficult to make. I'm all about easy recipes.

So once I moved out, and into my own home, I never made either.

Then a few weeks ago, I decided that the taste had lived in my memory for far too long and I was going to whip up my own. Face my fear of phyllo dough and make that childhood favorite.

Or at least try.

Turns out it was far less complicated than I remember, but just as delicious.

How To Make Squash Pie With Phyllo Dough

I'm sharing my squash pie recipe, but you can make it exactly the same way with spinach.

Ingredients:

• 1 package of phyllo dough - thawed according to directions 
• 2 large fresh yellow squashes - peeled and shredded
• 4 large eggs
• 1 16 oz container or cottage cheese
• Splash of milk
• 1 stick of butter - melted

*Some recipes call for feta cheese, but in our family we always used cottage cheese.

Supplies:

• A basting brush - this is what I used. However, I think I would prefer an old school one so I just ordered this pastry brush for next time.
• A large flat pan or cookie sheet 

The Steps:

I started by thawing the phyllo dough in the fridge the night before.


Once ready, I pulled out the pan and melted the butter.

Then I began layering the dough on the pan, to create a bottom crust, one sheet at a time. 

I overlapped them, when necessary and buttered each one. It's recommended to keep a damp cloth over the phyllo as you're working with it, so it doesn't dry out and break.

To be completely honest, sometimes I do, sometimes I don't. I haven't noticed a big difference.

Now, there are two ways to make the crust so you have enough dough to roll top and bottom together to lock the pie mixture inside...but you need to decide before you put down that first layer of phyllo.

1. Either go to the edge of the pan with the dough, but don't pour your mixture all the way to the edge. This was tougher, since the wet mixture tended to spread.

2. Or you can drape the top and bottom layers of phyllo over the edge of the pan, and let the squash mix fill the entire pan. I found this way was much easier.

When I was satisfied with the thickness of my bottom crust, I guess about 10 sheets of dough, I got to work on the filling mixture.

For that I washed, peeled and grated each squash.


In a large bowl, I combined the squash, cottage cheese, milk, eggs and mixed well.

Then I poured it over the crust, spread it out evenly. 

I made this pie with the extended edges to roll. Much easier.

Then I repeated the layering and buttering process to create a top crust.

Then I grabbed the top and bottom layers around the edges of the pie and rolled them together to create a rounded edge.

I made this pie with edges that match the pan, much harder to grab the edges

With the pie crusts done, rolled up and the filling locked inside, I went over the crust edges with one last coat of butter.

And tossed the pan into the oven for about 45 minutes on 350 degrees.

When that bell rang, I was floored.


I pulled out a pie that I think my mom would be proud of.

One my entire family enjoyed.

And one that I will making on a regular basis from now on.

☺️

Ps- I loved the way the phyllo crust came out so much that I made my chicken pot pie with it, as well. Yum.

Do you have any childhood old favorites? Please share!!

Happy Cooking, Friends!