How to Make Chef John's Baked Feta Phyllo with Honey
Learn how to create a delectable Mediterranean appetizer with Chef John's Baked Feta Phyllo with Honey. This culinary tutorial guides you through crafting a savory and sweet masterpiece. Watch as creamy feta cheese is enveloped in layers of delicate phyllo pastry and baked to golden perfection. The crowning glory? A drizzle of golden honey, balancing the flavors beautifully. Perfect for any gathering or as a delicious snack, this dish is a crowd-pleaser.
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00:00 Hello this is Chef John from FoodWishes.com with baked feta filo with honey.
00:07 That's right my favorite flavor combination of all time is sweet and
00:12 salty. And while there are thousands of different ways to combine those two
00:16 elements, there are none more delicious or beautiful or perfect than baked feta
00:21 with honey. Oh and since we're using ready-made filo dough this is also very
00:26 fast and easy. And to get started the first thing we'll need is some high
00:30 quality feta which typically come in these 7 ounce blocks that are about an
00:34 inch thick. Which unfortunately for this preparation is going to be too thick. So
00:39 what we'll need to do is split this in half so we can get two portions. But the
00:44 problem is if we try to cut through the whole thing it's going to be tricky to
00:47 get an accurate cut and the feta could break. So to make this easier let's go
00:52 ahead and cut it in half and then we'll tip this smaller piece on its side and
00:56 we will carefully cut right down through the middle with our knife. And this way
00:59 we have less cheese to go through as we slice this into the proper thickness. And
01:03 that's it once cut. If we place both of those pieces together, as you'll see when
01:08 we wrap this, we're gonna have the perfect size and shape for the amount of
01:12 filo we're gonna use. And by the way I'm using a Greek feta which is made with
01:17 sheep and goat milk, which in my opinion produces the best feta. But any feta
01:22 that's moist enough to cut through and doesn't crumble will work for this. And
01:27 if you're worried that second one I just cut is not going to work because it's so
01:30 uneven, don't worry it'll be fine. Okay I'm just gonna turn this side to make it
01:35 match a little better. And really once our cheese is wrapped that variation in
01:40 thickness will not matter at all. And that's it once we've cut the cheese we
01:44 will move on to mixing up our egg butter olive oil mixture, which believe it or
01:49 not we will make by adding some melted butter and some olive oil to an egg and
01:54 then whisking it until we have a nice emulsion. And this is what we'll use to
01:58 brush on our filo before we wrap our feta. And speaking of filo dough, once
02:03 we're ready to assemble we will place two sheets down on our counter. And by
02:08 the way ignore those cracks and terrible appearance for the moment. I'm gonna talk
02:12 about that very shortly. But what we'll do once we have two sheets down is start
02:17 brushing this carefully with our egg mixture. And we don't need to or even
02:20 want to go for total coverage. Okay I'd say about 75% of the surface is ideal. And
02:27 now that we've covered that let's talk cracks. Okay if you use store-bought filo
02:31 there's almost always going to be some cracks. Especially if you try to unroll
02:35 it while it's still partially frozen, which I always do. But as you're about to see
02:39 those are really not going to cause a problem. And once our filo is brushed we
02:43 will place our feta down, leaving enough dough at the bottom so that we can fold
02:48 that up over the cheese and it covers completely. And then we'll go ahead and
02:52 brush that part. And once that's been accomplished we will fold over both
02:56 sides towards the center. Right nice and neatly up to the edges of our cheese. Oh
03:02 and as I do this please note the positioning of those cracks, which are
03:07 sort of near the middle a little bit towards the top. Just keep that in mind
03:11 for a moment while I give this one more brushing with our egg mixture. And the
03:16 reason I want you to pay attention to where those cracks are is because once
03:19 this is brushed to finish it we're simply going to roll it up into a nice
03:23 tight package. Hopefully ending up with our seams on the bottom. And because
03:27 those cracks were in the spots they were as I finished the fold those ended up
03:31 being on top. Which again as you'll see is not going to be a problem. But let me
03:37 go ahead and fold up the second one and show you a little bit of a workaround.
03:40 Okay so I started with two sheets again and I brushed it exactly the same way.
03:45 Except please note I turned those phyllo sheets around so the cracks were near
03:50 the bottom, closer to where I'm going to be placing the cheese. And by starting
03:54 with any cracked dough in that area, by the time this gets folded and rolled up
03:58 those cracks are going to be folded inside. And if everything goes according
04:02 to plan we should end up with a perfectly smooth surface. And yes it
04:07 would have been nice if both of the ones I made had a perfectly smooth surface.
04:11 But it took me making that first one and seeing where those cracks started and
04:15 where they ended up to be able to improve the method and end up with the
04:19 best appearance possible. Alright in the business we refer to this as the
04:24 learning process. But visible cracks or not once these are done we'll transfer
04:29 them onto a Silpat line baking sheet. And there's the nice one. Followed by what
04:34 we'll call the worst-case scenario one. And then before these go in a nice hot
04:38 oven we will brush those tops with our egg mixture. Followed by, if we want, an
04:42 optional application of sesame seeds. And I'm going to do both white sesame seeds
04:47 and a few black sesame seeds. Which I just think makes these look so much more
04:52 interesting. And who among us does not enjoy food that looks interesting? Oh and
04:57 while I sprinkle those let me sneak in a shameless plug for a video we posted
05:02 recently called Black Magic Sesame Crisps. Which is one of the most delicious and
05:07 addictive cracker like snacks you will ever eat. So if you haven't seen it and
05:11 you have black sesame seeds please check it out. And that's it once those have
05:14 been seated or not. They are ready to transfer into the center of a 425 degree
05:20 oven for about 20 minutes or until they're beautifully browned and look
05:25 like this. And you might be thinking you made us listen to all that crack talk
05:29 for nothing since both of those look fine. Well you know it you're probably
05:33 right. And as long as these are nice and crisp and browned, including the bottoms,
05:38 then we did a fine job. Although that second one we did on the right does look
05:43 better. And now I'm gonna let it go. And we will transfer these onto a cutting
05:47 board. And I will prove I'm over the crack issue by cutting and serving the
05:52 less perfect one first. And for that I'm gonna use a mezzaluna, which is perfect
05:56 for cutting things in half. I mean the word half is right in the name. And
06:00 hopefully you can see here what I think is the perfect ratio between that
06:04 gorgeous hot creamy feta and that crispy flaky phyllo dough. So to me that is
06:10 looking just about perfect. But hold on it gets better. So let's go ahead and
06:15 plate these up and move on to the real money shot. Which is of course this being
06:20 slowly drizzled with lots of Greek honey. Or of course the honey of your choice. I
06:25 mean you are after all the Bad Bunny of witch honey. Right typically I would use
06:30 a local honey. But because I'd used Greek feta and had recently bought some Greek
06:35 honey online, after watching a show about blue zones, which are areas where people
06:40 live to like 110, I decided to go with that. But no matter what you use, use
06:45 plenty. And once that was generously drizzled, I went ahead and grabbed a fork
06:50 and we will take a bite of what I think is sweet and salty perfection. And of
06:55 course there is so much more going on with a good feta than just saltiness.
06:59 Okay it's also savory and creamy and a little bit funky. And all those things
07:04 along with the saltiness are why this is an absolute perfect pairing with the
07:09 honey. And I should have mentioned it earlier, but what makes this baked feta
07:13 phyllo different from most versions is that they generally just use butter or
07:17 olive oil or a combination to brush the phyllo with. Whereas here we also use
07:22 some egg, which adds some moisture and richness. It makes this a little more
07:27 pastry-like than your typical baked phyllo recipe. Alright those often look
07:32 nice and they're very crispy. But as soon as you put the fork in, it basically
07:37 explodes into like a thousand different dry flaky pieces. So I do prefer the
07:41 texture of this approach. Plus since we're using a little less butter and oil,
07:45 this version is in fact a little lower in calories. Although of all the reasons
07:50 to make this, that is by far the worst one. And the other thing I love about
07:55 this is how versatile it is as far as when you can serve it. Right we can make
07:59 a batch of these and then cut them up in pieces and they make a fantastic
08:03 appetizer for any party. Or you can serve this with hot coffee or tea for
08:07 breakfast. And when you eat something like this in the morning, you are setting
08:11 yourself up for a very successful day. Try it, you'll see. And then finally you
08:17 could put a big salad next to one of these and have it for lunch or dinner or
08:21 both. But no matter how or when you enjoy this, it is profoundly delicious and fast
08:27 and easy to make. Which is why I really do hope you give this a try soon. So
08:32 please follow the links below for the ingredient amounts, a printable written
08:36 recipe and much more info as usual. And as always, enjoy!
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