Mushrooms are an important ingredient in manitaropita.
Manitaropita is a Greek dish made by filling puff pastry with mushrooms and cheese and folding it into a small triangle. Manitaropita is part of a family of Greek foods called meze, small dishes traditionally offered as an appetizer. These foods are often found in casual bars and cafes, and also appear at parties and other social gatherings as snacks for guests. Some Greek restaurants and bakeries offer manitaropita, and the dish can also be found frozen, for those who want to prepare it at home. The most ambitious cooks can make their own.
A wide variety of mushrooms, including oysters, can be used in manitaropita.
Greek cuisine includes a number of dishes made from puff pastry and various fillings. One of the most famous is probably the spanakopita, a dish made with spinach, cheese and puff pastry. However, you can also find kreatopita, small triangles of phyllo dough filled with lamb meat, and thalassopita, which are filled with seafood. Essentially, the cook’s imagination is the only limit when making filo filled meze.
Manitaropita can be a good midnight snack.
The mushrooms used in manitaropita vary. A mixture of mushrooms is generally preferable, to create contrasting textures and flavors; If you live in an area where wild mushrooms are available, you might consider using a wild mushroom mix. Classically, the cheese of choice is Kefalograviera, a hard sheep’s milk cheese, although a variety of other hard and soft cheeses such as feta and kefalotiri can also be used.
The mushrooms are cooked before being mixed with the cheese; they are usually cooked with onions and seasonings and then the cheese is grated or split to mix in the mushrooms. For a creamier filling, cooks can mix in one or two eggs, depending on the total volume of the filling; cooks don’t want the filling to be too wet, as it can tear the puff pastry when handling it.
When manitaropitas are made, cooks usually design them as single-serving units. Large sheets of puff pastry are often cut in half to create two long rectangles, and a small pile of filling is made at one end of the rectangle before the cook folds the puff pastry into a triangle and butters it. Most cooks fold several more rectangles around the first, creating a flaky, layered triangle that will form crispy layers as it bakes. Cooks can also make a variety of Tiropita; a mix of puff pastry triangles filled with various things including manitaropita and kreatopita along with fillings of the cook’s own invention.
After roasting, the manitaropitas can be served hot as an appetizer or cold as a snack. They are almost like little pocket sandwiches; if they are well packed, they can be taken on walks and outings such as picnics. They can also be great midnight snacks after a busy party.