Greek Desserts · Cyprus · One-Pan · Lent and Nistisima
Cypriot Folded Pan Pastry with Honey (Kattimeri)
Καττιμέρι kah-tee-MEH-ree · Kattimeri
In short
Kattimeri is a Cypriot pastry made from thin sheets of plain dough brushed with olive oil, sprinkled with cinnamon and folded into a square parcel, then cooked on a hot pan rather than fried in oil. It is eaten warm with honey, epsima (grape syrup) or carob syrup poured over. In the villages it was cooked on the sadji, a traditional iron pan, and several of them are called kattimerka.
Cypriot Folded Pan Pastry with Honey
- Prep
- 30m
- Cook
- 40m
- Total
- 1h 10m
- Serves
- 5
- Level
- Intermediate
Ingredients
For the dough
For folding and cooking
To serve
Tick ingredients off as you go. Quantities rescale with the buttons above.
Method
- 01Mix the flour and salt in a bowl. Add the olive oil, vinegar and most of the water and bring it together, adding the rest of the water a little at a time until you have a soft dough.
- 02Knead for 8 to 10 minutes until smooth. Cover with a cloth and rest for 30 minutes.
- 03Divide the dough into 10 equal pieces and keep them covered.Keep the dough covered.Yiayia
- 04Roll one piece out on a lightly floured surface as thinly as you can, to roughly 30 cm (12 in) across.
- 05Brush the sheet with olive oil and sprinkle it with a pinch of cinnamon.
Cinnamon - 06Fold the two sides into the middle, then fold the top and bottom over them to make a square parcel. Press it gently with the rolling pin.
- 07Heat a heavy frying pan over a medium-high heat and wipe it with a little oil.
- 08Cook the parcel for about 2 minutes, until blistered and patched with brown underneath, then turn it and cook the other side for 2 minutes.
- 09Keep the cooked kattimeri warm under a cloth while you roll and cook the rest.
- 10Pour the honey, epsima or carob syrup over the hot pastries and serve straight away.
Honey
Nutrition, per 2 pastries
- Calories
- 661
- Protein
- 10 g
- Carbs
- 105 g
- Fat
- 23 g
- Sat fat
- 3 g
- Fibre
- 3 g
These figures are calculated estimates based on the ingredients listed, not laboratory analysis. Actual values vary with brands, cuts and portion size.
Kattimeri is plain dough made special by folding. A small ball of flour, water and olive oil is rolled out until it is almost see-through, brushed with oil, dusted with cinnamon and folded into a square, so the layers puff apart when it hits a hot pan. It goes to the table warm, with honey or grape syrup poured over.
Unlike pishies and the other fried Cypriot pastries, kattimeri is not fried. It cooks on a hot, lightly oiled pan, and in the villages that pan was the sadji. The oil brushed inside the folds is what makes it flaky, not oil in the pan.
Kalymnos has a pastry with a similar name, katimeria, but that one is filled with cheese and fried. Cypriot kattimeri has no filling. It is the dough, the cinnamon and whatever syrup you have in the cupboard.
Key preparation steps
- Make a soft olive oil dough and rest it for 30 minutes.
- Roll each piece very thin, brush with oil and dust with cinnamon.
- Fold each sheet into a square parcel.
- Cook on a hot pan until blistered, then pour over honey or epsima.
The dough
This is a simple village dough of flour, water, olive oil and salt, with a spoonful of vinegar to keep it supple. Knead it until it is smooth and soft, then let it rest under a cloth. Do not skip the rest. A rested dough stretches thin without springing back, and kattimeri depends on thin sheets.
Rolling and folding
Roll each piece out as thin as you can manage, with a thin rolling pin or a pasta machine. Brush the whole sheet with olive oil and dust it with cinnamon. Fold the left and right sides into the middle, then the top and bottom, so you end up with a square parcel about the size of your palm. Press it down gently with the rolling pin to flatten it a little.
Some cooks simply fold the sheet in half and then in half again. The square envelope gives more layers.
Cooking on the pan
Heat a heavy frying pan or a flat griddle until it is properly hot and wipe it with a little oil. Cook the parcels one or two at a time. They are ready to turn when brown blisters show on the underside, after about 2 minutes, and they need about the same on the second side. If they colour too fast, turn the heat down a little, or the dough in the middle stays raw.
What to pour over
Honey is the usual topping. Epsima, the Cypriot grape syrup that is called petimezi in Greece, is the other traditional one, and carob syrup, teratsomelo, is a third. Plain sugar sprinkled over the hot pastry also works. Pour the syrup over while the kattimeri is still hot so it soaks into the layers.
What matters in this dish
Roll it really thin
A thick sheet folds into a heavy, bready square. Roll until you can almost see the worktop through the dough.
Keep the dough covered
The pieces waiting their turn dry out in the air and then crack when you roll them. A damp cloth over them stops that.
Test the heat with the first one
If the pan is too hot the outside burns before the inner layers cook. Start at medium-high and adjust after the first parcel.
Questions people ask about Kattimeri
Is kattimeri the same as Kalymnos katimeria?
No. The names are close, but katimeria from Kalymnos are filled with soft cheese and fried, then soaked in honey syrup. Cypriot kattimeri have no filling and are cooked on a pan without frying.
Can kattimeri be made for Lent?
Yes. The dough is only flour, water, olive oil, vinegar and salt, so it fits the Orthodox fasts.
Is kattimeri vegan?
With epsima or carob syrup poured over, yes. With honey it is vegetarian.
Can you make the dough ahead?
Yes. Wrap it well and keep it in the fridge overnight, then let it come back to room temperature for 30 minutes before rolling. Cold dough is hard to roll thin.
