Kreatopetes

This is another of my attempts to try my hand at Greek cooking. This is my first proper attempt at working with filo, which was quite interesting. My natural urge is to be gentle with the amount of butter, I've been told that more butter = good when it comes to filo, so I may need to get over that.

The meat interior was very tasty and nicely spiced and tasted awesome in its little filo parcel. They were very very tasty. I took them to work, and even my Greek co-worker liked them, although she didn't comment on their authenticity!!!

I need to work on my parcel making skills for next time. I think my meat to pastry ratio was a little off. As nice as filo is, the parcel shouldn't be all pastry and little meat so I need to work on spreading it out more. I also think a smaller triangle with more layers would be nicer than my larger, only four layered ones. Lots of tips for next time!

Kreatopetes
as posted by mersaydees on Recipezaar

1 large onion, finely chopped
4 garlic cloves, pressed
2 tablespoons butter (regular salted butter is fine)
500g minced beef
400g tomato paste
1 cup water
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
18 sheets phyllo pastry sheets
3/4 cup butter, melted, for brushing filo

In a large frying pan over medium heat, cook the onion and garlic in the 2 tablespoons butter until the onion is limp. Crumble in the beef; cook until it is browned. Drain and discard the drippings.

In a bowl, whisk together the tomato paste, water, salt, allspice, and pepper until smooth. Stir this mixture into the meat mixture. Cover the pan, and simmer for 30 minutes. Remove the cover, and cook the mixture briefly, until it is thick and the liquid has evaporated. Remove the pan from heat, and set the mixture aside to cool.

Tip: taste the filling before wrapping and add additional seasonings if necessary. If it tastes good in the bowl, you'll know it tastes good in the final product!

Using a rounded teaspoon of filling for each, fill, fold, and bake the triangles according to the following instructions:.

Lay a sheet of filo horizontally on a work surface. Brush lightly with melted butter, nor more than 2 teaspoons per sheet. Lay a second sheet of filo over the first, and brush it with butter.

Cut the filo crosswise into five equal strips about 3 inches wide and 12 inches long.

Place a rounded teaspoon of filling on one end of each strip. Fold over one corner to make a triangle. Fold the triangle over again on itself. Continue folding, from one side to the other, as if you were folding a flag. When you come to the end of this folding exercise, simply trim off with a knife, any extra filo too small to tuck under.

After folding five triangles, place them on an ungreased baking sheet and butter the tops. You can leave the tops plain if you use only one kind of filling, but if you wrap a variety of fillings, identify each kind with a topping such as poppy seeds or sesame seeds.

After folding the appetizers, cover and refrigerate for use in the next 24 hours; otherwise, freeze them solid on the baking sheet, then transfer them to containers with tight-fitting lids and return them to the freezer.

Bake the triangles, uncovered, in a preheated 180 degree oven for 15 minutes (20 to 25 minutes if frozen) or until they are golden brown.

I froze a few of mine with great success. They tasted just as good after freezing as they did fresh.