1 week Ago
The phyllo sheets create flaky layers. Peggy Cormary/photo; Lisa Cherkasky/food styling, for The Washington Post Suzy Karadsheh and her family love pizza, and her husband used to be the one who always made it at home. And when he does, “he goes all out,” the cookbook author tells me in a Zoom conversation from her home in Atlanta.
“He takes his time, and everything is from scratch.” Then one day Karadsheh was scrounging around looking for the makings of a meal when she spied some leftover phyllo sheets, and inspiration struck. Wouldn’t pizza – or “pizza,” as she calls it in her latest book – be so much faster if she threw together a phyllo crust with a few simple toppings? You know the answer: “Pizza my way takes about 15 minutes.
” The recipe is emblematic of her approach in “The Mediterranean Dish: Simply Dinner,” in which Karadsheh helps make the prospect of cooking less daunting. The first and perhaps most important step, she says, is to redefine dinner itself. “Anything can be dinner,” she writes in the introduction.
“Salad is dinner. Mezze is dinner. Beans and pantry staples are dinner.
” The more expansive the definition, the easier it is on any given night to imagine cooking – or maybe just assembling – something that fits the bill, whether it’s a weeknight family meal or a get-together with friends. And that can help anyone live up to the core tenets of the Mediterranean cuisines that Karadsheh, as an immigrant from Egypt, has championed for years. Those tenets include so much more than the actual food.
To Karadsheh, the most important way to cook like you’re in the Mediterranean is to take some of the pressure off yourself and focus on the social aspects of a shared meal. In virtually all the 20-plus countries that border the Mediterranean Sea, she told me, “There’s always just a love for gathering at the table and an investment of one’s time to share a plate of food with some other people, not just eat and go. I wish we had more of that here.
” In her ideal world, that investment of time wouldn’t necessarily be large, but it would be consistent. And the secret is to not make cooking for others such a big deal. “When we get together with people, we’re thinking it’s going to have to be this big feast and you’ve got to pull out all the stops.
And I don’t think that’s the way people of the Mediterranean think. They just get together, and the food will come later.” Of course, the concept is more relatable if you possess Karadsheh’s natural kitchen confidence.
But the only way to gain that is to practice, and her new book gives you plenty of starting points, including that phyllo “pizza.” I found it not only fun to make but plenty impressive in its own way, especially with the shatteringly crisp and browned edges that result from brushing phyllo sheets with oil as you layer them. To keep it light and flaky, there’s no sauce, just a restrained amount of cheese, cherry tomatoes, green bell peppers and other toppings.
As someone who adores all kinds of pizza – but has an especially soft spot for thin, crackerlike crusts – I knew this would be something I return to again and again. Couldn’t I throw some chickpeas on it next time? Roasted red pepper strips? How about using the same approach to make a stripped-down take on baklava with a scattering of nuts and drizzles of honey? The wheels were turning. Phyllo, I decided, could be yet another path to a world of off-the-cuff after-school snacks, party appetizers or even meal centerpieces for family or friends.
I could treat phyllo the same way I treat my pantry and fridge staples of chickpeas, olive oil, garlic, lemon and salt, which I always have around in case I want – or need – to make the best dip in the world on a few moments’ notice for a low-pressure get-together. Karadsheh approves. “I feel like the expectations we put on ourselves of what getting together with friends looks like is so debilitating,” she told me.
“I don’t want to do that. I don’t want to host. I don’t want to entertain.
But I want you to come over for a plate of hummus and a stack of pita.” Or maybe a phyllo “pizza.” Veggie Phyllo “Pizza.
” Peggy Cormary/photo; Lisa Cherkasky/food styling, for The Washington Post Veggie Phyllo “Pizza” 6 servings Active time: 25 minutes. Total time: 50 minutes If you like your pizza super-crisp and light, you’ll love this decidedly nontraditional but simple method using phyllo instead of pizza dough. The toppings are minimal: cherry tomatoes, bell pepper, scallions and olives, with no sauce and a small amount of cheese (mozzarella plus a little feta).
By assembling it in a sheet pan and brushing some of the phyllo sheets with oil, you create those characteristic flaky layers. This makes a great lunch or dinner with a salad and tofu or another protein for a complete meal, but you can also cut it into even smaller squares to make fantastic party nibbles. Make ahead: Defrost the frozen phyllo sheets overnight in the refrigerator and then leave at room temperature for 1 to 2 hours before you start working with them.
Storage: Refrigerate for up to 4 days. Reheat in a 350-degree oven for a few minutes, or in an air fryer. Substitutions: To make it vegan >> use vegan cheese shreds instead of the mozzarella, and vegan feta, either homemade, such as Herb-Marinated Tofu Feta (see related recipe), or store-bought, such as Violife brand.
For more protein >> add chickpeas, white beans or baked tofu chunks or crumbles. Green bell pepper >> red, yellow or orange bell pepper. Cherry or grape tomatoes >> any chopped tomatoes.
INGREDIENTS 6 tablespoons olive oil, divided Twelve (14-by-18-inch) phyllo sheets, defrosted (see Make ahead) 1 cup (4 ounces) shredded mozzarella cheese 1/2 cup (2 ounces) crumbled feta cheese 1/2 large green bell pepper, seeded and finely chopped (about 1 cup) 2 scallions, trimmed and thinly sliced 1 cup (4 ounces) grape tomatoes or cherry tomatoes, halved if small and quartered if large 1/3 cup pitted kalamata olives, chopped 1/3 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes Fine salt (optional) Freshly ground black pepper (optional) DIRECTIONS Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 375 degrees. Brush a half-sheet pan with about 1 tablespoon of the oil. Unroll the phyllo sheets and lay them on a clean kitchen towel.
Lightly dampen another clean kitchen towel and lay it over the phyllo sheets to prevent them from drying out as you work. Place 3 phyllo sheets onto the sheet pan and brush the top sheet with another 1 tablespoon of the oil. Lay another 3 phyllo sheets on top and brush the top sheet with 1 tablespoon of the oil.
Sprinkle half the mozzarella and half the feta over the top. Continue layering and brushing the phyllo sheets, 3 at a time (brushing the top one with oil each time), until you’ve used all 12 sheets. Brush the very top sheet with the remaining 1 tablespoon of oil and sprinkle on the remaining mozzarella and feta.
Evenly spread the bell pepper, scallions, tomatoes, olives and parsley on top. Sprinkle with the oregano and red pepper flakes. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until the phyllo edges and bottom are brown and crisp.
Remove from the oven, and use a butter knife (to avoid dulling your sharp chef’s knife blade) to cut into 6 squares. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, if using, and serve warm. Nutritional information per serving (1 piece): 326 calories, 22 g fat, 6 g saturated fat, 24 g carbohydrates, 468 mg sodium, 21 mg cholesterol, 9 g protein, 2 g fiber, 2 g sugar.
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