Prasopita

The story

Prasopita is a Greek leek pie: sliced leeks softened in olive oil, bound with eggs and cheese, and baked between sheets of phyllo. Savory pies, or pites, come in countless variations in Greek home cooking, and the northwest and center of the country, Epirus, Thessaly and Central Greece, have an especially strong tradition of phyllo dishes. In winter, Greek cooks also stew leeks with rice as prasorizo, and Greek bakeries sell savory pies of every kind. A version without eggs or cheese is often eaten during fasting periods. Homemade phyllo is thicker than the store-bought kind and rich with olive oil, which suits a hearty filling. Machine-made phyllo made the pie quicker: after a practical phyllo machine was invented in 1971, frozen sheets reached American supermarkets. This version pairs feta with graviera, a hard Greek cheese with protected designation of origin, made in Crete, Naxos, Lesbos and Amfilochia; Cretan graviera from sheep's milk has a slightly sweet, burnt-caramel note. Swiss Gruyère is a fair stand-in. Serve squares warm with a bowl of bean or lentil soup for supper, or cold the next day for lunch.