Real African Dishes: [MC-AllEthnic-Recipes] Macedonian Pickled Cabbage Pie

* Exported from MasterCook *

Macedonian Pickled Cabbage Pie

Recipe By :
Serving Size : 6 Preparation Time :0:00
Categories : LowCal (Less than 300 cals) LowerCarbs

Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
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2 pounds green cabbage -- 1 small head
3 tablespoons coarse sea salt
2 cups chopped onions
4 tablespoons corn oil -- or olive oil (1/4 cup)
2 teaspoons Hungarian paprika
1 teaspoon sugar
salt and freshly ground black pepper -- to taste
1 cup drained ricotta -- or crumbled feta
2 teaspoons vinegar -- (optional)
2 eggs -- lightly beaten
1 recipe Macedonian Phyllo Dough -- see below
To serve: -- 2 cups yogurt in a serving bowl

Eight to ten days before serving, put the cabbage into brine. To do this, remove and discard the tough outer leaves of the cabbage. Wash and quarter the cabbage and cut out the core. Place in a deep plastic, enameled, or stainless steel container and top with water and the sea salt. Weigh down the cabbage with a nonreactive object (for example, a Pyrex plate) and let stand 8 to 10 days, stirring up and aerating the brine every day with a long, clean wooden or plastic spatula.

Drain the cabbage and squeeze out the excess moisture. It should smell sweet but briny. Shred the cabbage. In a large skillet, saute the onions over moderate heat in oil until soft and golden. add the cabbage and stir to coat all the shreds with oil. Raise the heat to medium high and saute until the cabbage and onions are golden brown around the edges and slightly crisp to the touch, about 5 to 7 minutes. Add the paprika, sugar, and salt and pepper. Remove from the heat and leave to cool.

Crumble the cheese. If using feta, soak in water to remove the excess salt. Omit the vinegar is the feta tastes tangy. In a bowl, combine the cabbage, cheese and eggs.

Roll out the first dough packet to fit an oiled 15 or 16-inch pizza pan; spread the filling on top, leaving a 1-inch edge. Repeat with the second packet of dough, but roll it out to 18 to 20 inches. Brush the sheet with oil and roll it up around the pin. Cover the filling, allowing the sheet of dough to unfurl into wavy wrinkles. Trim the eggs of the pie, and set to bake on the center rack until golden brown, about 1 hour. Allow to cool 10 minutes before serving.

Serve warm with yogurt.

Serves 6

AuthorNote: This recipe is for one of the great dishes of the Slavic Macedonian country-side - armiopitta, or brine pitta. Home-pickled cabbage is combined with the finest butter, the best eggs, and the best Hungarian paprika, then baked inside Macedonian Phyllo dough. Here you will have a chance to practice the Macedonian method of "wrinkling" a sheet of dough over a pie (described on page 70). The steam smoothes the wrinkles, and the dough forms a dough. When the pastry is removed from the oven, it collapses into a crisp, smooth top crust.

Pickling your own cabbage is a lot of work, but the unique flavor rewards the effort. Mildly astringent, home-pickled cabbage does not taste like store-bought sauerkraut.

Macedonian Phyllo Dough
3 cups all-purpose flour, about 1 pound
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 egg, lightly beaten
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup water
To roll out the dough: additional flour mixed with a little cornstarch
To brush or spray the dough: additional oil
To fill: 5 to 6 cups prepared filling

1. In a large bowl, combine the flour, salt, egg, oil, and water, blending well. Turn out onto a floured work surface (marble is too cold for this dough) and knead until smooth and soft ("as soft as an earlobe"), 2 to 3 minutes
2. Divide the dough in half, brush or spray with oil, and set on an oiled plate; cover with an inverted bowl and put in a warm place at least one hour.
3. Lightly dust the work surface with flour and cornstarch. Remove one of the rolls from the plate; dust it lightly with the flour and roll, using even strokes, into a large square, about 2x2-feet. (Ideally, the dough is rolled out with a 3-foot extra-thin rolling pin - an untreated wooden broomstick or curtain rod will do. The length and thinness of the pin enable you to roll a round of dough into a thin sheet. Once you get used to the thinner rolling pin, you will see that it is actually easier to use than an ordinary pin, and faster too.)
Set a dessert plate in the center of the dough. Brush the dough with oil Make 8 to 10 slits, at equal distances, from the rim of the plate to the outer rim of the pastry.
4. Remove the plate. Brush or spray the dough generously with oil. Fold one of the wedges over the center; working clockwise, repeat with the remaining sections. Brush the top with oil and fold to make a rectangle. Allow to rest 10 minutes. Repeat with the second piece of dough.
5. Preheat the oven to 375F.
6. Roll out the first dough "packet" to fit into an oiled 15 to 16-inch pizza pan; spread the filling on top, leaving a 1-inch edge. Repeat with the second packet of dough, but roll it out to 18 to 20-inches. Brush the sheet with oil and roll it up around the pin. Cover the filling, allowing the sheet to dough to unfurl into wavy wrinkles.
7. Trim the edges of the pie, and set to bake on the center oven rack until golden brown, about 1 hour. Reduce oven heat to 325F and bake 15 minutes longer. Allow to cool 10 minutes before serving.

Makes upper and lower crust for 15 to 16-inch pie

Source:
"Cooking of the Eastern Mediterranean by Paula Wolfert, 1994"
S(Formatted by Chupa Babi):
"Sept 2011"
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Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 225 Calories; 15g Fat (55.8% calories from fat); 10g Protein; 16g Carbohydrate; 5g Dietary Fiber; 83mg Cholesterol; 2924mg Sodium. Exchanges: 0 Grain(Starch); 1 Lean Meat; 2 1/2 Vegetable; 2 Fat; 0 Other Carbohydrates.

Nutr. Assoc. : 2415 0 0 0 1032 0 0 1267 0 0 0 0