Phyllo Wrapped Feta and Chard with a Citrus and Olive Salad
Phyllo Wrapped Feta and Chard with a Citrus and Olive Salad
One of the really cool things about working at Cafe Flora is the open menu, where any employee can propose seasonal dishes to be added to the quarterly menu, and then a manager’s meeting selects the best ones. The picture above is an item I’ve been testing for the winter. The phyllo dough is filled with feta, swiss chard, and seasoned with Ras El Hanout, which gives it a slow warming burn along with complex sweet spices. The salad is simply mandarin orange, pickled onions, blood olives, and parsley with a citrus rosemary dressing, and I’ve got some Zatar on the plate for a little extra color and flavor. I took it in for an initial tasting by the folks in the kitchen yesterday and I think it went over well.
This was kind of fun for me because for some reason I’ve never used phyllo (aka filo) dough before. I don’t know why not. I think the recipes always sounded a little fussy, like it was going to fall apart and you had to be so careful to keep it covered and so on. Not so, it was actually very easy and forgiving. If it crumbles a little, you just kind of roll around it and no worries!
That looks absolutely delicious. Now I really want some feta.
Great combo of spices and flavors! Love the presentation too.
Yum, looks awesome and tasty! I think I might make something with phyllo tonight – i have a package resting in the freezer. I should really start making my own, but I hear it’s rather a finicky dough!
Sarina’s grandparents still remember their parents making their own phyllo, stretched out over the dining room table, the couch and wherever else it would fit. I asked Noni recently and she said that it didn’t really taste a lot different but that it was a bit thicker. All the Sfardic ladies use bought phyllo now. But I like idea of trying to make it once just to have the experience.
This post inspired me to handwave together something similar. I minced kalamatas and added them to the chard/feta mixture instead of making the salad, and my approximation of ras el hanout was probably laughable, but it came out really well. I finished it with a drizzle of zatar in olive oil, but the extra flavor wasn’t really necessary. And my husband used the leftover sheets for a tiny batch of baklava. So thanks for this excellent use of chard… Where spinach would have gotten all soggy, the chard kept its crunch.