Mama's Recipe Box: Phyllo Pastry Fruit Pies

These pies can be made with different fillings: sour cherries, apples or banana squash. I make all three kinds the same, except for apple pie I mix sugar with cinnamon. Some people add cinnamon to apple pies as well, but I prefer it without.

I've read and heard about phyllo pastry drying out fast so you need to cover it with damp cloth, blah, blah, blah...Don't worry. As long as you don't open it and then take a break to watch TV or chat on the phone or FB, while it seats on your counter top, you will be fine. Prepare all the ingredients, then open phyllo pastry package and work continuously. Also to save time and space, don't count sheets and separate them from the whole pile. Just keep it all in one pile, put the filling on top and then count as many sheets as you want to use and roll them, leaving the rest in the same pile. I use three sheets per roll.

Ingredients:

1 package (450g) phyllo pastry

sugar

oil

butter for baking pan

cinnamon (for squash pie)

icing sugar for dusting

For cherry pie:

3 jars of 680g pitted cherries drained

For apple pie:

6-7 Granny Smith or some other crispy and sour apples, peeled, cored and grated

For squash pie:

200g banana squash, peeled and grated

I made cherry pie today, so pictures are for that kind.

Drain cherries.

Find a baking pan that fits your phyllo pastry length.

Take a very small piece of butter and butter the pan.

Turn the oven on 375F (180C). Open phyllo pastry and spread out on the counter top.

Spread 1Tbsp oil over the top sheet. Put some cherries and then add 1-2Tbsp sugar over them.

Separate three sheets from the rest and roll tightly. Put in the pan.

Continue until you have cherries. Ideally you will fill the pan. Maybe count at the beginning how many sheets you have and divide by three and see how many rolls you can get and if that will fill your pan. If your pan is bigger and you don't have enough sheets, use only two per roll. When all is packed, spread some oil (about 2Tbsp) on top.