Published December 30, 2019

Since it’s the last week of the decade — can you believe it? — I decided I wanted to make a challenging recipe video. I had two dishes on my mind that I wanted to recreate.

The first, was a dish that my sister’s best friend’s mom (did you follow that?) made for a party. She’s Albanian, and I believe the dish is called Byrek (or Börek).

The Byrek, as I’m calling it, was a platter sized spiral filled with ground meat and seasoning. Crumbly white cheese sat in the middle of the spiral, so when cut like a pizza, you had a bite cheese and a wavy slice of warmed phyllo dough layered with meat.

The second dish on my mind was homemade Greek Spanakopita — a pastry that is filled with Feta cheese and spinach that’s baked until golden brown.

Since I am neither Greek nor Albanian — and have never worked with phyllo dough — I decided to combine both ingredients using the phyllo dough pastry, to create this week’s recipe: A phyllo meat pie.

Phyllo Meat Pie Ingredients

Cooking Notes

Recipe Prep

I ran to the store to get the phyllo dough and filling.

I bought the phyllo dough from the freezer section, so I stored it in the freezer when I got home.

Except on the package, when you go to use it, it says to thaw for 3-24 hours. This detail delayed my recipe to later in the evening, as I left the phyllo out on the counter for the minimum 3 hours. Keep this in mind when prepping your recipe.

What’s in allspice?

I’ve never worked with allspice, so I made my own homemade version by combining cinnamon, ground cloves, and nutmeg. You need a dash when cooking the filling, so it’s no problem if you have to improvise here.

Can I use another pan for my meat pie?

You can use any size pan for your phyllo meat pie. I researched the Byrek recipe, which I was closely modeling this recipe from, and they used a long 9x13 pan.

Are you using a smaller pan? Make sure your phyllo dough is cooked through by adjusting your baking time. A thicker pan with more layers may require more oven time.

How to Make a Phyllo Meat Pie

Cooking Notes

Phyllo Meat Pie Filling

I knew the filling had to be cooked before adding it to the phyllo dough pan. It didn’t take long to brown the meat. A helpful note from cooking with phyllo dough is to make sure that your filling is completely chilled before using. Otherwise it can change the texture of the dough.

My phyllo meat pie uses frozen spinach. I let it thaw and drained the water before adding to the filling. You can use fresh or frozen. In either case, make sure to drain any additional liquids that might be in your filling (including grease/fat).

How do I keep the phyllo dough from drying out?

I bought a two-roll box of phyllo dough. This recipe requires one of those rolls, so remember to only defrost one of the two.

Once opened, the sheets of phyllo dough air dry and turn into crackly chips.

The first two sheets of my dough were ripped, so I set them aside. By the time I finished making the phyllo meat pie, those two sheets were brittle and cracked when I moved them.

To keep the phyllo dough from cracking as you work, dampen a paper towel or cloth and lay it over top the phyllo stack.

The Final Product

Overall Thoughts

Flavor

I am not a fan of plain ground meat, as a flavor, so I added some garlic to this dish. Neither of the traditional recipes I researched used garlic, but it’s a staple for me, so I added it.

I couldn’t detect the garlic or onion as distinct flavors, but I’m sure if it was missing, I would think the filling flat.

The parsley was perfect and reminded me exactly of the Byrek that my sister’s friend brought over. The dash of allspice came through as well, and I think it made a difference in the final product.

Serving and Storage

The 9x13 pan made enough phyllo meat pie to have as an entree. My sister and I ate 1/3 of the pan for dinner, with enough to have for lunch and dinner another two days. The phyllo is so light that you can easily have more than one serving.

With the larger pan, this recipe could feed 4 adults.

The textures were the best hot from the oven — the phyllo on top was golden and airy like chips, while the middle filling melded with the gooey cheese, spinach, and meat.

I didn’t mind the reheated texture the next day. Like with the Byrek, the top layer of the phyllo loses its crunch, and has a bit of oil from its butter bath.

Recipe Score

I would give this phyllo meat pie recipe a 11/10 for the following:

• Recipe Level

  • Easy: Despite the use of phyllo dough, I found this recipe to be friendly for beginner cooks. You need one pan to make the filling and one pan to layer it all together. The most important ingredient you need is patience to work with all the phyllo layers. Even if you tear the phyllo or overlap in some areas, the final product will be rustic and melted together that it won’t matter.

• Ingredients

  • Everyday ingredients you can find at the grocery store. Substitute beef for lamb or add more spinach and veggies to make it closer to the Greek Spanakopita. I added Feta as a nod to the Spanakopita, but you can use any cheese you like.

• Prep

  • Defrost your phyllo dough (one packet), meat, and have good quality olive oil or melted butter available.

• Flavor

  • 11/10: This recipe had my favorite elements from the Greek and Albanian recipes that inspired me, with the surprising addition of allspice. I love the final phyllo meat pie recipe and am excited to try new variations in the future.

K. Martinelli Makes Phyllo Meat Pie

Thanks for Watching

Have you made any of these classic recipes? Or have your version of a phyllo meat pie? Tell me about it in the comments or check out my other entree recipes here.