Gioulamas or Tzoulamas - Traditional Cretan meat pie with spices

A traditional pie from Crete dating back to the era of the Arabic influence on the island and that's why this dish will probably remind you of the Moroccan Pastilla pie (or Bastilla or Bisteeya). A rather unusual recipe for Greek standards since the authentic version of it demanded at least 2 glasses of sugar! Unusual simply because we are not talking about a sweet pie but a meat pie! The version of the dish I'm giving you today is a lighter one and more to the standards of the nowadays Cretan cooking

Recipe from "Cook Book" magazine of "ETHNOS" newspaper

 

Ingredients (for 6 people):
1 packet of phyllo pastry sheets (about 14 sheets)
500gr of chicken livers
2 tea-cups of chicken stock
½ a tea-cup of arborio rice (or short grain type of rice)
½ a tea-cup of blond raisins
½ a tea-cup of butter
½ a tea-cup of walnuts, finely chopped
½ a tea-cup of pine nuts
1 pinch of ground cinnamon
1 pinch of ground cloves
1 pinch of ground nutmeg
1 pinch of ground cumin
salt
pepper
extra butter, melted for brushing

Method:
Finely chop the chicken livers and blanch in boiling water for a few minutes. Drain in a colander, rinse and pat dry.

Warm some butter in a non-stick frying pan on medium heat and gently sauté the livers until they get lightly browned-stirring from time to time with a wooden spatula and season with salt and pepper.

Put the chicken stock in a pot and leave it to come to the boil on medium heat. Add the rice, cover with the lid and turn the heat to low. Simmer the rice for about 18 minutes until all the liquid is absorbed and you end up with a classic plain rice pilaf.

Take the pot off the heat and add the livers, the raisins, the spices, the walnuts, the pine nuts and stir well. Leave aside to cool.

Preheat the oven to 180°C and brush with some butter the bottom and the sides of a round (medium size) oven pan.

Lay on the bottom the first 6 phyllo sheets, brushing each one with butter and leaving the excess phyllo hanging over the rim of the pan. Spread on the phyllo half of the filling and smooth the surface with a spatula.

Cover the filling with 2 phyllo sheets, brushing again each one with some butter. Empty the rest of the filling and bring the excess phyllo inwards to cover some of the surface. Finely cover the pie with the rest of the phyllo sheets, again each one buttered, tucking them in a way to ensure the filling is well sealed.

Brush the pie with the rest of the butter, score the surface with a sharp knife into pieces and drizzle with a bit of water.

Put in the oven and bake for about an hour or until the phyllo is nicely golden brown and crunchy. Take out of the oven and leave the pie to rest for a few minutes before you cut it into pieces and serve.