105Skaltsounia

Method

Cretan sweet cheese tartlets. Serve at room temperature, optionally drizzled with extra thyme honey.

You will need

• rolling pin
• pastry brush
• mixing bowls
• baking tray
• 10 cm round pastry cutter

1. In a mixing bowl, combine the flour, sugar, and salt, then rub in the olive oil with your fingertips until crumbly. 5 min Ready when: flour evenly coated with oil
2. Add the lukewarm water gradually and knead into a soft, pliable dough that comes away clean from the bowl, then cover and rest for 20 minutes. 25 min Ready when: smooth, non-sticky dough
3. In a separate bowl, mash the drained fresh mizithra with the honey, one beaten egg, and half the ground cinnamon until homogeneous. 5 min Ready when: creamy, thick cheese filling
4. Preheat a conventional oven to 180°C (350°F) and line a large baking tray with parchment paper. 10 min · 180°C / 350°F Ready when: oven fully heated
5. Roll the dough out thinly to 2 mm thickness on a lightly floured surface and cut into circles roughly 10 cm in diameter. 10 min Ready when: neat dough rounds
6. Place a rounded tablespoon of cheese filling in the centre of each round, draw the edges upright, and pinch the pastry rim repeatedly around the filling to form an open pleated cup. 10 min Ready when: pinched tarts with visible cheese filling
7. Arrange the tarts on the lined tray, brush the exposed dough and filling lightly with the second beaten egg, and dust with the remaining cinnamon. 5 min Ready when: glazed and spiced
8. Bake in the preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes until the crust is pale golden and the cheese filling has set firm. 28 min · 180°C / 350°F Ready when: golden rims and set custard-like centres

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Make ahead and storing

Can be shaped and kept chilled on the tray for up to 4 hours before baking.

Fridge 3 days in an airtight container; serve at room temperature.

Substitutions

• well-drained whole-milk ricotta or anthotyros for fresh sweet mizithra. Ricotta should be strained through cheesecloth for at least 2 hours so the pastry does not turn soggy.

Common mistakes

• Using wet, unstrained cheese. Excess moisture causes the base to become soggy and makes the pleating collapse during baking.
• Rolling the pastry too thick. Thick dough will not cook through properly and overshadows the delicate fresh cheese filling.

Regional variants

• Kalitsounia tiganita (fried half-moon parcels filled with cheese and served with honey)
• Kalitsounia me horta (savoury version stuffed with wild greens and wild mint)

About the dish

Skaltsounia, often called kalitsounia across Crete, are small sweet or savoury cheese pastries deeply tied to Cretan pastoral tradition. Made especially around Easter when spring sheep and goat milk is abundant, the sweet version balances fresh unsalted whey cheese with honey, eggs, and cinnamon, encased in an olive-oil pastry dough. In western Crete they are frequently shaped as open pinched tarts, whereas elsewhere they are often folded into half-moons.

Found in Crete. Cooked for easter, spring, everyday.

Cousins elsewhere

• casadinas (Italian). Sardinian small open cheese tarts share a very similar fresh sheep whey curd filling and pleated pastry form.

Nutrition per serving (estimate)

754 kcal · protein 31.1 g · fat 38.2 g (saturated 18.3 g) · carbohydrate 72.3 g (sugars 21.1 g) · fibre 1.8 g · sodium 1392 mg

An estimate (summed from ingredient estimates) that varies with the exact ingredients. It is not dietary advice.

Written fresh by Epikouria editors from general culinary tradition. Recipe by the Epikouria editors. Following traditional western Cretan home baking for Easter sweet kalitsounia pinched into open cups (tsimpita)..

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