Flaouna

The corners folded in to leave the top open, so the filling browns instead of steaming.

Egg. Not vegetarian — contains halloumi whose rennet the source does not name, rennet the source does not identify as animal or microbial.

Ingredients

the dough

• 500 g strong white flour
• 100 g butter, softened
• 2 eggs
• 150 ml milk, lukewarm
• 7 g fast-action dried yeast
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground mastic or 1 teaspoon ground mahleb (optional)

the filling

• 500 g halloumi, as on its own page, coarsely grated
• 200 g hard anari, as on its own page, grated, or more halloumi
• 3 eggs
• 4 tablespoons plain flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• a large handful of dried mint
• 100 g raisins
• black pepper

to finish

• 1 egg, beaten
• 6 tablespoons sesame seeds

Method

1. THE CORNERS ARE FOLDED IN TO LEAVE THE TOP OPEN, so the filling browns instead of steaming. A flaouna is not a sealed pie. The disc of dough is loaded, and then three or four sides are folded up and pinched at the corners, leaving a wide window of cheese exposed in the middle. That window is the whole point: in the oven the filling puffs, cracks and browns in patches, and the result tastes of baked cheese. Sealed over, the same filling steams in its own moisture, stays pale and wet, and the pastry above it goes soggy from underneath. The shape is usually a triangle or a square and the number of folds matters less than the opening.
2. THE WHOLE THING IS SAT IN SESAME BEFORE IT IS FILLED. The rolled disc is brushed with egg on its UNDERSIDE and pressed down into a plate of sesame seeds, so the base and the outer rim are crusted before any filling goes near it. Scattered on top at the end instead, most of the sesame falls off and the base is bare.
3. THE FILLING IS MIXED AND LEFT TO STAND HALF AN HOUR. Flour and baking powder go into the cheese and egg, and the mixture needs time for the flour to hydrate -- used immediately it is loose and runs out of the opening before it sets. Stood, it thickens enough to hold a heap.
4. THE CHEESE IS GRATED COARSE AND IS NOT ALL HALLOUMI. Halloumi alone is squeaky and salty and gives a filling that stays rubbery. Grated hard anari -- the whey cheese from the halloumi's own page -- is mild and crumbly and is what makes the filling tender. Coarse grating leaves visible strands; fine grating turns it to paste.
5. THE MINT IS DRIED AND THERE IS MORE THAN LOOKS RIGHT. A large handful. Fresh mint wilts to nothing and tastes green; dried mint is the characteristic flavour of the whole thing, and under-minted flaounes taste only of cheese.
6. The dough made: flour, yeast, salt, mastic or mahleb, then the eggs, milk and softened butter, kneaded 10 MINUTES to a soft smooth dough.
7. Covered and risen 2 HOURS until doubled.
8. The filling mixed: grated halloumi, grated anari, eggs, flour, baking powder, dried mint, raisins and pepper.
9. LEFT TO STAND 30 MINUTES so the flour hydrates and it thickens.
10. The dough divided into 10 and each rolled to a disc about 15 cm.
11. Each disc brushed with beaten egg on its UNDERSIDE and PRESSED DOWN into a plate of sesame seeds.
12. Laid sesame side DOWN and a generous heap of filling spooned into the middle.
13. Three or four sides FOLDED UP and PINCHED at the corners, leaving a WIDE OPENING of filling exposed in the centre.
14. Set on lined trays, the exposed filling brushed with egg, and proved 30 MINUTES.
15. Baked at 180°C for 30 to 35 MINUTES.
16. TESTED: the exposed filling must be PUFFED, cracked and browned in patches, and the pastry golden. Pale wet filling means it was closed over.
17. Cooled on a rack. Best warm, and they keep 3 days.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under Cyprus · All recipes