How to use filo pastry (tips and filo pastry recipes)

Learn different ways of using filo pastry, get to know some useful tips and take a look at a selection of filo pastry recipes. Filo can be used in a variety of ways and is easy to use so long as you don't let the sheets dry out too quickly and crack.

What is it used for?

Filo pastry sheets are used in a variety of recipes such as tarts and pies, both sweet and savoury. When baked, the layers become crispy resulting in a light, golden and attractive pastry.

It is popular in Greek and Middle Eastern dishes such as spanakopita and baklava. It is also perfect for forming a parcels such as samosas or for making a quick and easy case for a quiche.

The layers can be formed flat such as in a baked filo parcel, or they can be scrunched up to create texture. The sheets can also be filled and rolled to form a spiral.

You can use filo pastry in a variety of ways:

• Use it to create a light and crispy casing for either sweet or savoury recipes such as baked filo parcel.
• Create a quick and easy pastry case for a quiche or tart such as red pepper quiche, broccoli and cheese tart, feta filo tart or fig tart.
• Use a single piece of filo pastry to form individual triangular parcels such as in this recipe for vegetable samosas.
• Fill and roll the sheets to form a spiral as in this recipe for spinach and feta spiral.
• Form the sheets into a concertina to make a custard crinkle tart or an asparagus quiche.
• Scrunch the filo sheets to form a textured topping for a fruit pie or or savoury dish.

How to buy filo sheets

You can buy packs of filo sheets either fresh or frozen. I recommend buying a good quality brand rather than the cheapest as I have found better quality filo sheets are easier to handle. They have a better flavour and texture too.

How to stop it drying out

1. Keep the filo sheets in their wrapping until you are ready to use them.
2. Have everything ready - flan dish, baking tray, etc, and the olive oil (or melted butter) and pastry brush - before unwrapping the filo sheets.
3. Only remove the sheets that you are going to use from the packet. Re-wrap any sheets you are not going to use immediately and return to the fridge as soon as possible.

Tips for working with filo pastry

1. If your filo sheets are frozen defrost at room temperature before using.
2. Keep the filo sheets wrapped until you are ready to use them to prevent drying out.
3. Remove from the fridge so that the sheets come to room temperature before using to reduce the risk of the sheets splitting.
4. You will typically use a minimum of three filo sheets layered on top of each unless specified otherwise in your recipe.
5. Dab or brush the sheets with either olive oil or melted butter before adding the next sheet.
6. Use a pastry brush to coat the filo sheets with oil or butter.
7. Cut your cooked filo pastry dish using a sharp knife.
8. If the edges of the filo pastry are cooking too quickly cover the affected parts with foil so that they do not continue to cook and burn.

Recipes using filo pastry