Of all the styles and shapes in the pantheon of pastry, kataifi is the most playful. It loves to be twisted and turned, bathed in butter or oil, baked or fried until glowing with the promise of crispy flakes on your chin, lap and heart as you crunch into its golden, glassy fuzz.
Since they’re often interchangeable doughs, it’s easy to assume that kataifi pastry is simply shredded filo. But rather than being rolled and stretched into paper-thin sheets like filo (or phyllo, depending who you ask) kataifi begins as a light, pourable batter which is streamed through fine nozzles on to a rotating heated plate, where it cooks almost instantly into a cascade of fine vermicelli-like strands, delicate yet strong, like spun silk.
With origins in the Ottoman empire that spread across the Balkans and Middle East, you’ll find it bunched and crisped into nests for syrup-soaked sweets like baklava, ekmek, and künefe, knafeh or kunafa; wrapped around seafood like scallops and prawns; or layered into savoury pies that blur the curly lines between crunch and comfort.
But where you couldn’t find it earlier this year was in a single fridge section across Australian retailers. According to Effi Tsoukatos, marketing manager and recipe developer for Antoniou pastry, one of the largest manufacturers of kataifi in the country, the popularity of Dubai chocolate, where fried kataifi is a main ingredient, led to a rush.
“We couldn’t make it fast enough,” she told me. “For those desperate enough, people were selling it for almost quadruple the price. People were scalping kataifi!”
So if you did manage to get on the trend, what do you do with the half packet left in your freezer? Or if this is the first you’re hearing of such a magical pastry, how do you jump on the caravan with something more savoury, though no less satisfying, now that supply has caught up with demand?
The recipe below is somewhere between a quiche, with a savoury custard, and a pie, with a guaranteed crispy crust. It’s perfect for taking along to your next picnic.
Kataifi picnic pie with warm oregano honey drizzle – recipe
Before you begin any kataifi recipe, take the pastry out of the fridge to bring it up to room temperature. If using it for wrapping individual portions, keep it under a damp towel so it doesn’t dry out. Freeze anything you don’t use, then thaw as needed.
Serves 6 to 8
For the pastry
Melted butter, for greasing
375g kataifi pastry, at room temperature
100g unsalted butter, melted
Salt flakes, to finish
Handful of rocket, to serve
For the savoury custard
500g cherry or grape tomatoes
1-2 cloves garlic, finely sliced
1 red onion, halved lengthways and finely sliced lengthways
1 tbsp fresh oregano leaves, finely chopped (or 1 teaspoon dried Greek oregano)
4 eggs
280g Greek or natural yoghurt (1 cup)
200g marinated feta, drained and crumbled, with a small handful reserved for the finish
¼ of a nutmeg, finely grated, or a pinch of ground nutmeg
½ tsp salt flakes
¼ tsp freshly cracked black pepper
For the warm oregano honey drizzle
1 lemon
2 tbsp mild-flavoured honey
35g chopped or slivered pistachios (¼ cup)
1 tbsp fresh oregano leaves, finely chopped (or 1 tsp dried oregano), plus extra for serving
Preheat the oven to 200C/180C fan and grease a 23cm round springform cake pan with melted butter.
In a large bowl, gently pull apart and fluff up the kataifi pastry with your fingers so the strands separate. Split the pastry in half. Set aside one half in the mixing bowl under a clean, damp tea towel. Use the other half to line the springform pan, laying it across the bottom and sides, ensuring you have an overhang to form the lid later. Using your fingers, gently press down on the pastry and push it into the edges of the tin to form an even base. Brush the base and sides of the pastry with three-quarters of the melted butter. Carefully place the tin on a baking tray.
For the savoury custard, in a large bowl combine the tomatoes, garlic, onion and oregano. In another bowl, whisk together the eggs, yoghurt, most of the feta (reserve a small handful of feta for the finish), nutmeg, salt, and pepper until just combined, but still lumpy. Add to the tomato mixture. Using scissors, gently snip half the remaining pastry into small pieces, directly into the custard (after this, you should have one-quarter of the pastry remaining). Gently fold everything together until just combined, but don’t over mix.
Pour the savoury custard into the pastry-lined tin. Fold the overhanging pastry over the filling to cover it. Gently brush with some of the remaining melted butter. Fluff the remaining quantity of pastry and spread evenly over the top of the pie – like trying to cover a bald spot with a strategically angled bouffant. Brush with the last of the melted butter.
Carefully slide the baking tray with the tin on to the top shelf of the oven and bake for 40 to 45 minutes. You want the pastry to become golden brown and the custard to be well set.
While the pie bakes, make the warm oregano honey drizzle. Using a vegetable peeler or very sharp knife, peel the rind of the lemon into a twist, or as large a piece (or pieces) as possible. Slice the lemon in half. Juice one half, and slice the remaining half into wedges for serving.
In a small saucepan on a low heat, add the lemon peel and juice, honey, pistachios and oregano, and warm through – no need to boil. Remove from the heat and allow the flavours to get friendly.
Remove the pie from the oven and allow to cool slightly, preferably on a cooling rack (this helps with air-flow and keeps the base from schvitzing). Release the sides of the springform pan, then drizzle with the warm honey and sprinkle with a pinch of salt flakes. In a small bowl, crumble the last bits of feta through the rocket for a side. Serve warm or at room temperature, with the feta-rocket and lemon wedges.
