Phyllo Dough

Appears in

Pulp: A Practical Guide to Cooking with Fruit

Published 2023

About

There are recipes on the internet to make your own phyllo dough, but I have never tried. I don’t really see the point except for the novelty of it, so I buy it from the freezer section. The most important things to know about phyllo dough are:

It dries out if left uncovered, so always cover with a slightly damp kitchen towel while working with it.
It needs a layer of fat between each sheet. Most recipes call for melted butter but for some reason that always annoys me, so I usually just drizzle with olive oil and spread with a pastry brush.
Most phyllo doughs are made without salt, so I always sprinkle a bit of salt and pepper between each layer.
Phyllo dough can be thawed and refrozen. Because it doesn’t have fat or leavening agents it is A-OK to thaw, use a few sheets, and then refreeze what you haven’t used. Just be sure to keep it covered the whole time.
If you get a bunch of dried-out, cracking phyllo, look up a recipe for knafeh on the internet and use it for that. It is delicious, but I don’t need to reinvent the wheel for you.
I’ve never used whole-wheat phyllo but presumably it will work interchangably because the flaky layers come from the layer of fat between the dough and therefore will not be hurt by some extra bran.
When comparing brands at the store, I always just look for the one that has the fewest ingredients.

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