Μake us preferred on Google The cheeses of the Cyclades are a world unto themselves: distinctive, fresh and creamy, shaped by the land, the animals and the spring landscape. They carry the aromas of the wild greens and herbs on which the animals graze.
They are served over freshly cut tomatoes drizzled with pure olive oil, alongside hand-cut fried potatoes or crisp zucchini. And, of course, they find their way into pies.
Combined with feta and a little pepper, the Cyclades’ fresh white cheeses—tyrovolia, xinomyzithra, anthotyro, xinotyri and chlorotyri—give these pies body and texture, along with a pleasantly tangy character and a flavor that practically tickles the palate.
Every island has its own recipes. They are similar enough to share a common culinary DNA, yet each is unmistakably its own. Passed down from one generation to the next, these recipes are made with care and meraki—the Greek notion of putting heart, passion and loving attention into what you do.
Cycladic cheese pies come in every form imaginable: baked in large pans or made as bite-size pastries, fried or baked, filled with vegetables or made simply with cheese and pastry. We love them, and for many Greeks, they are inseparable from the taste of summer and vacation.
And Greeks are not the only ones who love them.
Four people who know the cuisine of the Cyclades better than almost anyone—four chefs and cooks whose hearts beat for these islands—share their own versions of the cheese pie. Vasilis Papikinos, Iosif Sykiakanakis, Anastasia Garderi and Margarita Kalogeropoulou offer recipes as distinctive as the islands they call home.
Pitarakia from Milos
By Vasilis Papikinos
Photo: Giorgos Drakopoulos, Food styling: Olivia Artemis Webb
Preparation time: 40 minutes + 45 minutes resting time
Frying time: 10 minutes
Difficulty: **
Makes 30
Ingredients
- 1 kg (2.2 lb) all-purpose flour
- ½ cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for frying
- 300 ml (1¼ cups) water
- 1 tsp fine salt
- 1 shot of raki or vinegar
- Juice of ½ lemon
- 1.2 kg (2.65 lb) grated Manoura cheese from Milos
- 2 tbsp finely chopped fresh mint
- Pepper
Method
- In a large bowl, combine the flour with the salt and olive oil. Add the water, lemon juice, vinegar or raki, and work the mixture with your hands until you have a smooth, cohesive dough. Cover and let it rest for 45 minutes.
- In a bowl, thoroughly mix the Manoura cheese with the mint and pepper until well combined.
- Next, roll out the dough into very thin sheets. Using a large cup or cookie cutter, cut out rounds approximately 8–9 cm (3–3½ inches) in diameter.
- Place 1 tablespoon of the cheese mixture along one edge of each round and fold the dough over to form a half-moon. Press the edges firmly with a fork to seal them and enclose the filling.
- Fry the pitarakia in very hot oil for about 40 seconds, until beautifully golden on both sides. Transfer them to paper towels to drain off excess oil and serve.
Tip: Turn the pitarakia in the pan with tongs rather than a fork, so you don’t pierce the dough and allow the filling to escape.
Mykonos Onion Pie
By Iosif Sykiakanakis
Photo: Giorgos Drakopoulos, Food styling: Olivia Artemis Webb
Preparation time: 30 minutes
Baking time: 60 minutes
Difficulty: **
Makes 12 servings
For the pastry
- 1 kg (2.2 lb) all-purpose flour
- ⅓ cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 shot red wine vinegar
- 1 tsp salt
- Lukewarm water, as needed
- Cornstarch, for rolling out the pastry
For the filling
- 1 kg (2.2 lb) Mykonos tyrovolia cheese
- 1 finely chopped onion
- 5–6 finely chopped scallions
- ½ bunch finely chopped dill
- 2 eggs
- Salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 100 g (3½ oz) extra-virgin olive oil, for the pan and the surface of the pie
Method
- Place the pastry ingredients in a large bowl, adding the water gradually while working the mixture, until you have a medium-firm dough—not too soft and not too hard. Let it rest for 20 minutes.
- In a separate bowl, mix together all the filling ingredients.
- Divide the dough into two pieces, making sure one is slightly larger than the other. Using a rolling pin, roll out two sheets approximately 0.5 cm (¼ inch) thick. Use cornstarch when rolling out the pastry, as this helps make it crispier.
- Oil a 42-cm (16½-inch) round baking pan. Lay the larger sheet over the base, allowing plenty of pastry to hang over the sides, and secure the edges around the rim of the pan.
- Spread the filling evenly over the pastry. Fold the overhanging edges inward. Cover with the second sheet, without leaving any excess around the edges.
- Drizzle generously with oil and score the surface into portions. Bake the onion pie at 200°C (390°F) in a preheated conventional oven for approximately one hour.
- Tip: If you cannot find tyrovolia, substitute anthotyro.
Sfougato from Kythnos
By Anastasia Garderi
Photo: Giorgos Drakopoulos, Food styling: Olivia Artemis Webb
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Frying time: 10 minutes
Difficulty: *
Makes 30
Ingredients
- 1 kg (2.2 lb) unsalted, well-drained Thermiotiko cheese
- 2–3 eggs
- 1 handful self-rising flour, plus more for coating
- Salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- Olive oil, for frying
Method
- Place the cheese, eggs, flour, salt and pepper in a large bowl and mix thoroughly until you have a firm dough.
- Shape the dough into small balls and lightly coat them with flour. Shake off the excess flour so that it does not burn and darken the oil in the pan.
- Heat olive oil in a frying pan and fry the dough balls for 1–2 minutes on each side, until evenly browned and crisp on the outside.
- Transfer them to paper towels to drain off excess oil and serve while still hot.
Zaforistes Cheese Pies from Anafi
By Margarita Kalogeropoulou
Photo: Giorgos Drakopoulos, Food styling: Olivia Artemis Webb
Preparation time: 60 minutes
Baking time: 50 minutes
Difficulty: *
Makes 9–10 servings
Ingredients
- 1 kg (2.2 lb) all-purpose flour
- 1 g saffron
- 2 tsp dry yeast
- 1 egg
- 500 g (17½ oz) fresh goat cheese or feta
- 100 g (3½ oz) evaporated milk
- A little salt
- Crushed mastic
- Aniseed
- Sesame seeds
- 1 pinch nutmeg
For the pastry
- 500 g (17½ oz) all-purpose flour
- 1 small glass sunflower oil
- ½ small glass vinegar
- 1 shot tsikoudia
- Salt
- Lukewarm water, as needed
Method
- Place all the pastry ingredients in a bowl and work the mixture until it comes together into a smooth, cohesive dough. Cover it and let it rest for a while.
- Soak the saffron in a glass of lukewarm water and leave it for several hours to release its color and aroma—ideally overnight. Then strain it.
- In a large bowl, combine the 1 kg of flour, salt and yeast. Add the egg, milk and saffron-infused water, and work the ingredients until you have a light, fluffy dough with the consistency of cake batter.
- Finally, incorporate the cheese, nutmeg and mastic and mix well.
- Roll out the pastry and cut it into rounds roughly the size of a plate. Using a wet spoon, place some of the filling in the center of each round. Fold the pastry inward around the filling to form a square, leaving the center of the pie open.
- Sprinkle with sesame seeds and aniseed.
- Cover the cheese pies and leave them for a while to rise. Then bake at 180°C (350°F) for 50 minutes.
