This is a traditional Greek recipe for a phyllo pie with pumpkin filling instead of spinach. If you like spanakotiropita, try this savory and delicious variation, kolokythopita. I made one today to celebrate the first day of autumn.
A printable recipe is at the bottom of this post. I’ll walk you through it with these photos. First, preheat your oven to 375°F.
You’ll need the entire box of phyllo (fillo). The night before you make your pita take it out of the freezer and thaw it in the fridge.
To start, wash and chop the leeks.
Heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium heat and add the leeks. Saute gently. Remove from the heat and allow to cool.
You can use crumbled feta or cube a 1/2 lb of a solid block. 
Mince or rough chop the fresh parsley, it’s a personal preference. I like a rustic rough chop. Combine the pumpkin, feta cheese, parsley, breadcrumbs, milk, dried herbs, pepper and eggs. Mix well.
Brush a 13 x 9 inch pan with melted butter. Layer the phyllo pastry in the pan, brushing each layer with butter before adding the next. Use 8 – 10 phyllo sheets for the bottom. Spoon the pumpkin filling into the pan on the layered and buttered phyllo sheets. Distribute the mixture evenly with a spatula.
Layer the remaining phyllo sheets neatly on top, buttering each. Turn any overhanging phyllo inwards and over the top. Butter the last sheet generously. Don’t worry about the phyllo layers being perfect. Work quickly and don’t let the phyllo dry out.
Using a tip of a small, sharp knife, score the pie by cutting gently through the top layers of pastry. Just pierce the top few layers. Score the pastry by the width too, creating a guide for what will be the pieces when the pie is served.
Bake for approximately an hour, when it is golden brown, remove the pita from the oven. Cool for 15-20 minutes before cutting all the way through the scored pieces. Pita may be served hot or room temperature. This is a savory pumpkin pita recipe, but there is also a traditional Greek sweet pumpkin kolokythopita. Either can be made with pumpkin, squash or zucchini.
Here’s the printable version of the recipe.
- 1 large can of pumpkin
- 3 large leeks
- ½ cup dry breadcrumbs
- ½ lb feta cheese, crumbled
- 4 eggs
- ½ cup milk
- 1 lb phyllo pastry
- 2 tablespoons fresh parsley, minced
- ½ tsp dried basil
- ½ tsp dried oregano
- ½ tsp black pepper
- ½ tsp cinnamon
- ½ tsp nutmeg
- 4 ounces butter, melted (approximately)
- Preheat oven to 375°F.
- Heat the oil in a skillet over medium heat and add the leeks
- Saute gently
- Remove from heat
- Let cool 5 minutes
- Combine the pumpkin, feta cheese, parsley, breadcrumbs, milk, dried herbs, pepper and eggs
- Mix well
- In a 13 X 9 inch pan brush with melted butter.
- Layer the phyllo pastry in the pan, brushing each layer with butter before adding the next.
- Use 8 - 10 phyllo sheets for the bottom
- Spoon the pumpkin filling into the prepared pan
- Layer the remaining phyllo sheets neatly on top, buttering each
- Turn any overhanging phyllo inwards and over the top
- Butter the last sheet generously
- Using a tip of a small, sharp knife, score the pie by cutting gently through the top layers of pastry, just pierce the top few layers
- Score the pastry by the width too, creating what will be the pieces when the pie is served
- Bake pie for approximately 1 hour, until a lovely golden-brown color
- Remove from the oven
- Cool for 15-20 minutes before cutting all the way through the scored pieces
- Pita may be served hot or room temperature
Kali orexi!