YangYang Cooking: Walnut Sesame Phyllo Triangle

This is contributed by my friend Ting Liu. She introduced me to fillo dough. Phyllo, Fillo, or Filo, which means "leaf" in Greek, is tissue paper-thin like sheets of dough made from flour, water and a bit of oil. However, Phyllo dough was not born in Greece rather in Istanbul during the Ottoman reign. The name "Phyllo" is Greek but the dough technique itself is Turkish.

Phyllo is almost always frozen. It is found frozen in the freezer section of the grocery store. Frozen phyllo dough must be thawed following instructions on the package.

The sheets dry out rapidly and crack because they are so thin and have almost no fat. When ready to use the phyllo dough, unwrap and unfold it carefully, take out what you need and cover the extra dough right away with a large piece of plastic wrap. Place a damp kitchen towel on top of the plastic.

Ingredients:

Fillo dough - 1 roll out of the package - about 20 sheets to make 40 triangles

Walnut - 1 cup

Black sesame - 1/4 cup

Sugar - 2 TBSP
The portion is for reference only, adjust to your own preference.

Steps:

1. Ground walnut and black sesame in food processor or spice grinder.

2. Put walnut sesame mixture in a sauce pan and roast under low heat for a few minutes. Take pan off stove, mix in sugar. Try the filling for taste.

3. Defrost 1 roll of fillo dough in bag. Cut layered fillo into quarter lengthwise. Wrap and cover the unused ones.

4. Seperate the fillo dough into 2 sheets thick strips. Using cooking spray, lightly spray them.

5. Place 1 teaspoon of filling about 1 inch from corner of each strip fold one corner of the sheets across two opposite edge to form a triangle. Continue to fold triangle until the end of strip. Place the triangle on cookie sheet with seam facing down.