Alevropita: easy, fast & delicious thin batter feta pie from Epirus

Epirus is well known for its amazing cheese pies. This one comes from a group of “lazy” pies that uses batter instead of phyllo. I had it back in the spring of 1991 in the very small and picturesque village of Monodenri (photo above) in the Zagorohoria region around Vikos Gorge in the Pindus mountains. We arrive in the evening hungry and went to the only place open, the village cafe. When I asked what they had, the proprietor replied, “tyropita” and when I asked what else, she said again, “tyropita”! So we ordered tyropita and what she brought was like the alevropita in the photo above–it was amazingly delicious!

I discovered the recipe years later in the fantastic tome of Greek regional cooking by Diane Kochilas, The Glorious Foods of Greece . It is a wonderfully simple dish that takes all of 5 minutes to prepare and makes for a delicious and light meal with a salad.

ALEVROPITA (Thin batter feta pie)

Ingredients
2 cups (225 grams) all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs divided
1 1/2 cups (355 milliliters) + 1/4 cup (60 milliliters)water
1lb ounces (450 grams) Greek feta cheese crumbled
5 tablespoons (75 grams) EVGE  Greek extra-virgin olive oil plus more for  pan

Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 380F (190˚C). Grease a round 15 inch (38 cm) OR 9×13 inch pan with a little olive oil. P
2. In a large bowl, combine the flour and salt. Mix in 1 egg and 1 1/2 cups water to form a thick batter. 
3. Pour 2/3 of the batter into the pan and spread to cover the entire bottom of the pan. Evenly top with the crumbled feta. 
4. Mix the remaining egg, 1/4 cup water and olive oil into the remaining 1/3 batter. Pour evenly over the feta. It won’t completely cover. Some of the feta will show through. 
5. Place on the lower rack of the preheated oven and bake until the pie is golden and has left the sides of the pan, about 40 minutes, rotating halfway through. Serve hot when it is nice and crisp or at room temperature.

Variation with zucchini:
Grate 1 large zucchini, salt and strain for about an hour. Squeeze as much of the liquid out as possible and add to the batter in step 2.

Kali Epitychia kai Kali Orexi!!!