It’s autumn already and the weather has started to change. With all the Halloween decorations and all the pumpkins on sale I can only think of one thing and one thing only. Kolokotes! -the punctuation on e haha- The word freely means pies with kolotzi aka pumpkin. I absolutely love making them and eating them of course as they are such a comfort food to eat either as breakfast or as a snack. They have the shape of a Cornish pasty or the Spanish empanadas but instead the filling is not savoury but sweet.
As a matter of fact, kolokotes are a truly authentic Cypriot recipe as nothing similar has been recorded elsewhere purely because of the filing. In a traditional kolokoti, there is pumpkin, onion, cinnamon,sultanas, bulgur wheat to soak up all the pumpkin juices and some olive oil. They are absolutely divine and I honestly think you should try them cause they are the best!
Now, before we start baking my lovelies just to let you know that -unfortunately- you can’t use Halloween pumpkins for this recipe as a lot of them are ornamental but you will need some butternut squash. Right, let’s do this!
Ingredients
- I butternut squash, cut in small squares
- 2 tbsp coarse bulgur wheat
- 1 onion,finely chopped
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- salt
- 1 cup sultanas, washed
- 2 tsp pepper
- 1 nest vermicelli, optional
- For the dough
- 500gr plain flour
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1 tbsp vinegar
- water
Instructions
Step 1
Prepare the butternut squash from the night before. Cut in small squares and place in sieve. Sprinkle with salt and let it sit there. This way you will get rid of any excess juices. At the same time, wash the sultanas and let them in a sieve to drain overnight as well.
Step 2
Prepare the dough by adding the flour in a bowl and the olive oil. Rub the two together until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Then add the vinegar, sugar and the lukewarm water bit by bit. You are looking for a smooth dough that's not soft or sticky. It's more of a strong dough. Let it rest for 30 minutes.
Step 3
Meanwhile, prepare the filling. Wash the squash to get rid of the salt and let it drain completely. Then add the sultanas, bulgur wheat, cinnamon and pepper.
Step 4
Add the olive oil in a small pan and saute the onion for a couple of minutes. If you are adding vermicelli, add that in the pan for a couple of minutes too until it's golden. Mix the onion mixture with the pumpkin mixture.
Step 5
Pre heat the oven at 200°C
Step 6
Roll out the dough into a circle on a lightly floured surface. (If the dough is hard to roll out and seems to be pulling back in, let rest for another 15 minutes.) Cut out 4-5 inch circles. Place 2 heaping tablespoons of filling in the center of each circle. Fold one side over to form a half-moon shape. Pinch the edges tightly together and place on baking tray lined with parchment paper. Continue until all of the dough and filling is used up.
Step 7
Bake for 30-40 minutes or until the pasties are nicely golden
Let them cool for a while and enjoy!
Notes
If you have a bit of sweet tooth, then you can add 1 or 2 tbsp of sugar in the pumpkin mixture.
