25 September 2026
A comfort-food phyllo pie with a creamy filling that almost went totally wrong
Pieces of the nearly failed kotopita.
Some things take time and shouldn't be rushed. If you ever make a phyllo pie with store-bought dough, there’s one thing you need to remember: let the package thaw in the refrigerator before using it. That Saturday when I made this kotopita from today’s recipe, I was in a hurry, but I don’t remember why. At the same time, I forgot to take the phyllo dough out of the freezer in time, so I only had a few hours before I had to make the pie. In the end, the phyllo sheets tore, and I had to improvise. This is one of my mother’s most established recipes, which would often be found on her kitchen counter or table at random moments. It’s a pie you can eat for breakfast, serve as an appetizer at a dinner party, or enjoy with a nice salad for dinner.
If you're not in a hurry like me, you can spread the whole phyllo sheets on the baking sheet, or if you want to test your pie-baking skills, you can assemble the pie with the phyllo pieces scattered across the baking sheet. The most important part of this recipe—and the reason it held together and didn’t fall apart after baking—was the brushing paste: that magical mixture of flour, olive oil, and water that held the phyllo pieces together. If, when cutting the pie, some of the béchamel-like filling falls out as you place the piece on a plate, no problem.
Just eat the filling that fell out, and no one will know that you stole half a bite of this delicious phyllo pie from them.
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TipThis recipe makes a set number of servings because of its ingredients. If you want to make it for more people, just make it again.
Chicken · Vegetables · Dairy · Pastry · Main course · Baked
TipCheck off what you already have before you go shopping.
TipCheck off each step as you go and follow the recipe without losing your place.
Boil the chicken fillets whole together with the whole onion, a bay leaf and salt.
Once the chicken is cooked, remove the onion and bay leaf and let it cool.
Drain the chicken and finely chop it, keeping the broth for the filling and the brushing paste.
Finely chop the leek and carrot and sauté them over low heat with the olive oil until they take on some colour.
Lower the heat and add the flour and milk gradually, stirring so the mixture doesn't turn lumpy.
Pour in a little of the reserved broth, until the mixture reaches the consistency of a light cream.
Add the chicken along with a little salt, pepper and nutmeg, and let the filling cool.
In a bowl, mix the ingredients for the brushing paste: flour, olive oil and the remaining chicken broth.
Lay phyllo sheets along the left and right sides of the tray, and enough sheets across the middle to hold the filling, brushing them with the brushing paste using a pastry brush.
Spread the filling over the phyllo sheets laid in the centre of the tray.
Lay more phyllo sheets along the left and right sides again, and enough on top to fully cover the filling, brushing these too with the brushing paste.
Fold the sheets from the edges of the tray inward, to seal the pie.
Preheat the oven to 220°C using top and bottom heat and brush the pie with a little olive oil, sprinkling it with a little water.
Bake the pie, lowering the oven to 200°C, for 35–45 minutes until the phyllo turns golden.
Serving suggestion:Remove from the oven and let it cool before cutting in pieces and serving.
