In greek: Κρητικη Κρεατοπιτα

Ingredients for 8 portions:

• 1 kilo of fat free lamb meat
• 1 teacup of water
• 1/2 a kilo Cretan mizithra or anthotyro (ricotta cheese)
• Cream of milk
• 1 egg
• Cumin or spearmint
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Sesame seeds

Dough ingredients:

• 4 teacups of flour
• 1 teacup of fresh butter
• 2 eggs
• 1 teacup of plain Greek yogurt
• 2 cut tsp of salt

Method:

• Firstly you prepare the dough for the meat pie.
• Place the flour in a large enough bowl, add the salt and mix well.
• Add the fresh butter and mix with your hands to combine the mixture.
• Break the eggs in a bowl, strike them with a fork or a wire, add the yogurt and mix it well.
• Add a little bit at a time the eggs/yogurt mixture in the flour mixture and mix well.
• Gather the dough in a ball shape, you knead lightly and add if needed some flour in order to be kneaded easier.
• Wrap the dough with wax paper and over that with a kitchen towel and place it in the refrigerator for at least one hour.
• In the meantime you prepare the meat for the pie.
• Cut the meat in small bites and remove any excess fat that happen to be on it.
• Place the meat in a saucepan with a teacup of water, add salt and pepper to taste and boil in low heat for about one hour and put it aside to cool down.
• Separate the dough in two parts, the one bigger than the other and open in 2 leaves (Fillo sheets) with a thickness of about 2/3 of a cm (6 mm).
• Lay the bigger leaf (Fillo sheet) on the bottom, in a buttered baking pan and put the meat on it with small pieces of mizithra (ricotta cheese) and over the top, in a way that the meat and cheese are in the centre and they form a small hill.
• Sprinkle with powder cumin or with finely chopped fresh spearmint and pour over it the cream of milk.
• Cover the bottom leaf (Fillo sheet) with the meat and cheese with the other smaller leaf (Fillo sheet).
• Turn the bottom leaf (Fillo sheet) over the top making sure in covers the stuffing and either you press the edges all around with the fork uniformly or press the two leaves (Fillo sheets) with your fingers to close the pie.
• Brush the surface of the pie with beaten egg and sprinkle with sesame seeds.
• Cook in a preheated oven in moderate heat (325-350 degrees Celsius)  for about 40 minutes or until golden brown.
• Κρητικη Κρεατοπιτα (“Τουρτα”) (Cretan Meat Pie) is served hot.
• Cretan Meat Pie is very popular in Crete and loved by anyone how tried it whether was in Crete or in a Cretan house.
• Cretan Meat Pie can be served as a main meal accompanied by boiled or steam greens and a Greek Salad or as a side dish.