Golden, flaky and more healthful turnover goodness
One of my formative food experiences was a first bite of a phyllo pastry. I was about 8 years old, at a Greek church festival in Queens, New York, where I grew up. The warm, golden pie - a savory one, filled with spinach and cheese - held so much mouthwatering promise in my hand. Its shatteringly crisp crust was a revelation, and I have been enamored with the possibilities of the paper-thin sheets of dough ever since.
The accompanying recipe reveals phyllo's ability to go sweet as well as savory, and to make for desserts that are not only compellingly beautiful and tasty but also more healthful: The phyllo has fewer calories than a typical pastry dough and is prepared here using healthful oil as opposed to butter or shortening.
The flaky phyllo envelops an aromatic filling made with Golden Delicious apples (unpeeled for rustic texture and more nutrition) enhanced with the homey, sweet flavors of cinnamon, nutmeg and a touch of brown sugar and enlivened with bright, zingy bits of crystallized ginger. The lightly oiled sheets of dough are sprinkled with gingersnap cookie crumbs to echo the flavor of the filling and add an extra layer of sweet crunch to the crust. Baked until golden brown and served warm, these individual apple pies are pockets of pure pleasure.
• Ellie Krieger's most recent cookbook is "Weeknight Wonders: Delicious Healthy Dinners in 30 Minutes or Less" (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2013). She blogs and offers a weekly newsletter at www.elliekrieger.com.
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