Page 151 - Pie Squared

Butter is the most common fat used to lubricate phyllo, but duck
fat, lard, bacon fat, and olive oil all work beautifully. There is no
denying the benefit of butter for the flavor and the way it browns and

burnishes the crust, but bacon fat is gosh darn amazing, too.
When buttering between the layers, use a gentle touch with a soft
pastry brush. I like a natural bristle brush, 1 or 2 inches wide. Use a
dabbing motion, do not brush or the sheets will tear, and be

generous. On a buttered 9- by 13-inch baking sheet, place a phyllo
sheet, allowing some drape over the edges. Butter this first sheet
well. Now, pick up two more sheets, placing them on top of the
buttered one. Butter the top sheet and repeat two more times, until

there are seven sheets on the bottom of the pan.
Fill the pie with cooled filling and repeat the process with the
phyllo, first draping a single layer of phyllo, buttering and adding six
more sheets in three additions with butter dabbed between each pair

of phyllo sheets. The phyllo will rip and tear; simply patch and keep
going. No one will see these repairs once the pie is baked!
Generously brush the top layer with every bit of the butter. Trim the
edges, fold the bottom layers over the top layers, rolling toward the

center to make a chubby edge.
If there is time, I like to chill the pie for an hour or more at this
juncture. Cold, it’s much easier to make the required shallow cuts
through the top layers of phyllo. Portion the pie with these surface

cuts sliced all the way through the top layers of phyllo, but not all the
way through the pie’s bottom layer. These cuts are traditionally made