Greek Mount Pelion Bell Pepper and Onion Pie

As many of you know, my husband and I will be going to Greece on our honeymoon this summer and I’ve been trying out various Greek recipes in the cookbook Vefa’s Kitchen. I recently made Mount Pelion Bell Pepper and Onion Pie, which was easy and relatively quick to make.

I say “relatively” because filo dough is a bit needy of an ingredient. It can easily dry out as it is waiting for you to finish a layer. According to some recipes I’ve read, this can be resolved by lightly covering the remaining dough with a (clean) dishtowel. No matter how carefully I extract each individual layer, a few of them tear before I get them on the pie. Since there are so many layers cooked together, this doesn’t seem to be a problem, even if it feels a bit stressful in the moment. My recommendation is to simply forget about it and finish the recipe. It will taste good no matter what it looks like.

Like yesterday’s rice stuffed grape leaves, I bought the filo dough at Jerusalem International Market (1713 Plymouth Rd, Ann Arbor, MI 48105; 734-668-7773.) They have great prices and a lovely selection of items that cost a fortune in gourmet shops.

This cheesy, soft on the inside and crunchy on the outside pie was delicious! There’s only one change we would recommend. The recipe called for the peppers to be thinly sliced. My husband and I both thought that we would have preferred the peppers diced, instead.

Some of the Greek pie recipes I’ve seen call for brushed butter between each filo sheet. This recipe called for brushed olive oil, which is of course a healthier option. Perhaps I’ll make this substitution for other pies.

You can purchase the cookbook Vefa’s Kitchen on Amazon.