Albania - Byrek Shqipëtar me perime

After a long flight I landed in Tirana. I was presented with the national dish of Albania, Byrek Shqipëtar me perime.



Albanian vegetable pie, Byrek Shqipëtar me perime, is an Albanian recipe for cooking pies. Albanian pies are generally made of thin pastry leaves which can be rolled out at home or bought as filo dough at a supermarket. Most of the pies prepared by Albanian cooks are not sweet; instead, pie fillings are almost always salty. Thus, a piece of such a pie may well serve as the main dish of a meal.
Ingredients
1 cup olive oil
30 pastry leaves
680 g spinach, chopped
1 cup diced feta cheese
1/2 cup chopped green onions
2-3 eggs
1½ t salt
Directions
1.A medium-sized, round baking pan is recommended because it's more authentic but any medium-sized baking pan will do.
2.Brush the baking pan with some of the oil, and start laying the pastry leaves inside.
3.First, lay two leaves, sprinkle or brush with oil, then lay two other leaves, and repeat the procedure until half of the leaves are laid.
4.Make sure that they cover the pan by hanging them about one inch over the edges of the pan.
5.Sprinkle spinach with salt, and then mix well by hand.
6.Add the feta cheese, oil, onions, eggs and salt, and spread this mixture over the already laid pastry leaves.
7.Finish by covering the spinach with the rest of the pastry leaves repeating the first-half procedure and then roll the hanging edges of the bottom leaves over the pie (think of a pizza crust), sprinkle top with oil and bake moderately at (175°C) for about 45 minutes, or until golden brown.

It was a tasty result for my first attempt at a pie.