Kolokithopita Epirus Recipe (Hand-Rolled Courgette Pie)

Epirus, the mountainous region in Greece's northwest, has a pie tradition unmatched anywhere else in the country, built on hand-rolled phyllo passed down through generations of women who could stretch a piece of dough thin enough to read a newspaper through it. Kolokithopita, the courgette version, is one of the most common savoury pies to come out of this tradition.

Hand-rolled Epirus phyllo differs meaningfully from the paper-thin, machine-made sheets sold in supermarkets: it is thicker, slightly more rustic, and rolled in far fewer, larger sheets rather than dozens of delicate ones, giving a heartier, more substantial pie once baked.

This is a genuine project if you roll the phyllo yourself, and a considerably faster one if you use good shop-bought sheets instead, which is a completely reasonable substitution for a home cook without years of rolling practice behind them.

Key preparation steps

1. Grate and salt courgette, then squeeze thoroughly dry.
2. Make or use phyllo dough, rolled thicker if doing it by hand.
3. Layer courgette filling between sheets of phyllo, brushing with oil.
4. Score the top and bake until deeply golden.

The filling

Grate a large quantity of courgette, salt it, and leave to drain in a colander for at least thirty minutes, then squeeze thoroughly in a clean tea towel until genuinely dry. This step matters more here than in almost any other pie, since courgette carries far more water than spinach and an under-drained filling will make the whole pie soggy.

Mix the drained courgette with crumbled feta, chopped dill or mint, and beaten egg to bind, seasoning with black pepper rather than much salt, since the feta already carries plenty.

Hand-rolled phyllo, or shop-bought

Traditional Epirus phyllo is made from flour, water, a little oil and salt, rolled out by hand into large, thick rounds, using far fewer sheets than a commercial pie, often just two or three per pie rather than a dozen. It takes real practice to roll evenly and thin enough, and is a genuine skill passed down rather than something to expect to master on a first attempt.

Good quality shop-bought phyllo, using slightly more sheets layered together to approximate the thickness of a hand-rolled sheet, is an entirely reasonable substitute and gives a very good pie without requiring that particular skill.

Assembling and baking

Brush a baking tin generously with oil, layer in the base sheets, brushing each with oil as you go, spread the courgette filling evenly, then top with the remaining sheets, again brushed with oil. Score the top into portions before baking, which stops the pie tearing raggedly once it comes out of the oven.

Bake in a hot oven until the top is deeply golden and the pie feels firm rather than wobbly when gently pressed, then rest for at least fifteen minutes before cutting along the scored lines, which lets the filling set enough to hold a clean slice.

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