Leek and ground meat pie with home made phyllo

I know it is a bit of an effort to make home made phyllo but it is much nicer and there are specific pie recipes that they require this type of pastry instead of the store bought phyllo sheets. The home made phyllo is time consuming and demands a fair amount of patience and skill but all you need is practice (including myself). I have mentioned before that some pies need thicker home made phyllo and others (like the Baklava, various cheese pies etc) need to have quite thin phyllo sheets (about 2.5 mm). For the home made phyllo a long thin rolling pin is needed anyway (as you have seen before in other pie recipes in this blog) but in the case of the thin phyllo sheets you have to keep rolling and rolling to achieve the proper thickness. Today, again, I give you the full version of the recipe (which surprisingly enough doesn't include any cheese) and you can decide whether to make the home made phyllo or to follow the easy way

Ingredients (for 6 people)

For the phyllo:
350gr. flour + 1-2 extra tbsp (possibly)
1 egg
2 tbsp plain yoghurt
2 tbsp of olive oil
1 tbsp of plain vinegar
2 tbsp of water
A pinch of salt

For the filling:
1Kg of leeks
1 egg
300gr. ground beef
250 ml of milk
2 carrots
4 tbsp of butter
1/2 a bunch of flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
1 egg yolk, lightly beaten and mixed with 1 tbsp of water
Salt
pepper

Method:

For the phyllo:
In a big bowl put all the ingredients and knead with your hands to get a smooth and rather firm dough. If you think it is needed, add the extra tbsp of flour. Cover with a damp kitchen towel (or cling film) and let it rest for at least 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, wash and finely dice the leeks and the carrots. In a saucepan melt in medium heat 1 tbsp of the butter and add the vegetables. Sauté for 3-4 minutes stirring frequently with a wooden spatula.
Add the meat and sauté for 3-4 minutes longer until it changes colour. When the meat juice has been evaporated, turn off the heat. Season with salt, pepper and sprinkle with the parsley. Stir well and leave aside.

Preheat the oven to 180°C.

Divide the dough into 6 pieces and form each one into a ball. Place each one on a floured surface and flatten four of them with a rolling pin to form a disc about the size of a normal plate and keep rolling until they get as thin as a piece of paper. Combine the other 2 balls into one and flatten with the rolling pin into a larger disc. Cover with damp kitchen towels and let them rest.

In the meantime, melt the rest of the butter in a small saucepan in low heat. Don't let it foam but just gently melt.

In a plastic bowl whisk together the egg and the milk. Add the melted butter and lightly whisk again.

Get a deep round oven pan (medium size) and place the larger phyllo sheet in it, covering the bottom and the sides. Spoon over and spread with the back of the spoon some of the egg/butter mixture. Cover with the first of the smaller phyllo sheets and again add some more of the mixture. On top evenly spread half of the filling.

Over the filling add the second smaller phyllo sheet, spread some more of the egg/butter mixture and do the same with the third sheet and use the rest of the egg/butter mixture. Spread on top the rest of the filling.
Over the filling, place the (last) fourth phyllo sheet and brush it with the beaten egg yolk. Fold the edges of the first larger sheet over the top and brush the edges all around again with the egg yolk.

Put in the oven and bake for about 35-40 minutes until the phyllo gets crunchy and nicely coloured.
 
Take out of the oven and let the pie to rest for half an hour before you cut and serve.

It tastes better at room temperature.