This is a favorite of mine, from a Middle Eastern cookbook. It tends to be a hit at parties. It also seems to work out every time I make it, which can't be said for some of the other recipes I've tried. The dough is phyllo, so it's not very heavy and won't expand in your stomach and make you uncomfortable. You can make a big pie or just make a bunch of little single-serving triangles (like spanakopita). The ingredient list is long, but a lot of it is just spices.

Ingredients:

4 small or 3 large chicken breasts

2 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp cinnamon; another 1 tsp set aside for later

1 tsp turmeric

1/2 cup chicken stock

some olive oil

2 leeks, chopped

a handful of chopped parsley (about 1/2 a bunch)

a handful of chopped cilantro (same)

2 jars artichoke hearts (canned in oil), chopped

200 g feta cheese, crumbled

2 eggs

phyllo dough sheets (about a dozen for a large pie)

butter, melted (about 2-3 oz)

Bake chicken, covered at moderate heat with spices and stock, about 30 mins; chop the chicken into small chunks, reserve about 1/2 cup of the cooking liquid for later.

Stir-fry chopped leeks with olive oil (about 10 mins, until they are soft).

Combine chicken, reserved juices, leeks, parsley, cilantro, artichokes, feta cheese, egg, and the extra cinnamon in a bowl; mix well.

Be careful not to let the phyllo dough sheets dry out (I roll them back up every time I take one sheet). Melt the butter; use a pastry brush to spread butter all over the sheet. Put the sheet into a greased baking dish, so that the edges hang over. Continue until you have about a dozen sheets, arranged all around the dish. Scoop the filling into the dish; fold over the edges of the pastry sheets. If the pie is not fully covered, butter up a few more sheets and arranged them in the middle so everything is covered. Brush the top of the pie with butter.

For a large pie, bake for 20 mins at a moderate-high temperature (I usually go for 350); then for another 20 mins at moderate temperature (e.g. 300), until the pastry is golden.

Ooo, this sounds wonderful. Thanks for sharing, will definitely have to try this!

Sounds yummy!

I want it right now. Like, really bad. :wink0:

So starts today's shopping list!

OK, so I've got all the stuff to make this for dinner tonight, but I have a question about the leeks, which I've never once cooked with in my entire life.

I wrote "2 leeks" on the shopping list, and my hubby came home with 2 BIG bulby things that have a bunch of what look like super-sized chives coming out of them. I don't use both of those whole things, right? Just two of the long dark-green chivy looking things? Anything from the white bulby part? I feel like an idiot for not knowing this!

Never mind, I got the answer!

[edit, 7:29pm] OK, it's got 10 minutes more in the oven. Smells wonderful and the boys are drooling.