The ingredients for the dough giagia Eleni makes are:

1/2 kilo flour  (≈4 cups)

1 tea spoon salt

1 tea spoon sugar

1 soup spoon vinegar

5 ssp olive oil

and a glass of water *tip: the water must be lukewarm.

You don’t pour the whole glass from the start but little by little while you knead to make sure it will not be too hard or too soft to open it.

Step 1:

Start by adding the sugar and the salt

then the vinegar and olive oil. Yiayia eleni makes a “volcano” hole in the middle of the flour to pour the rest of the ingredients in easily.

Step 2:

Start kneading with one hand from the outside in and by holding with the other hand the large baking pan to turn it round. It helps to gather all the flour and mix it with the ingredients. Then start adding half of the glass of water.

Keep kneading and adding water. You might need more than a glass of water if while kneading you feel the dough hard and difficult to work it.

Keep kneading now with both hands.

You must end up with a clean pan. That means that you took all the flour from the pan.

Step 3:

Once you are done kneading you divide the dough in five smaller parts. It depends on how many sheets of dough you like to make. It also determines the thickness of the sheets.

*tip: Yiayia Eleni always makes a smaller piece of dough. When she opens it with the rolling pin it will be thinner and she uses it for the middle parts of the pie.

She then pours oil on every roll before she lets them rest.

You have to spread the oil all over the roll. That way you have covered the whole roll with oil and it absorbs it easily while resting.

Step 4:

The final part is to let them rest by covering the pan with transparent cooking film for approximately 20-30 minutes in room temperature.

Do not forget that it is best to open the dough sheets for use the same day. You might keep them in the refrigerator for the next day, but we do not reccomend it as they might not be easy to open the sheets.

Don’t forget: it is always better to prepare food with love and “meraki” to make it tasty! …and as Yiayia Eleni says, kids love kneading!!

Καλή επιτυχία!