My Dad, award winning restaurateur George Psarias, appeared on ITV’s Britain’s Best Dish-The Chefs a fair few years ago now with the recipe for his custard in filo pastry tart which also appeared in the book that accompanied the series.
This is a favourite among Greeks.
Ingredients:
- For the vanilla custard:
- 650 ml full fat milk
- Pared rind of 1/2 unwaxed lemon and grated zest of the other 1/2
- 3 egg yolks
- 100g caster sugar
- 20g unsalted butter, softened
- Pinch of salt
- 125 g fine semolina
- 1/2 vanilla pod, split lengthways and seeds scraped out
- 200g filo pastry
- 125g unsalted butter, melted.
- 200g caster sugar
- Pared rind and juice of 1/2 unwaxed lemon
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 2 cloves
- Splash of rose water
For the coulis
- 110g of raspberries
- 2 tsp icing sugar
- Juice of 1/2 lemon
Method:
To make the vanilla custard, preheat the oven to 180°C (Gas Mark 4).
Heat the milk with the lemon rind in a small pan to boiling point. Remove from the heat and leave to cool for 10 minutes. Remove the lemon rind and discard. Using an electric hand held mixer, whisk the egg yolks with the sugar in a bowl until thick and creamy.
Add the butter, lemon zest and salt and stir well. Then gradually add the semolina, mixing continuously.
Slowly pour in the cooled milk, mixing thoroughly after each addition, and return the mixture to a clean pan. Cook over a low heat for 3-4 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Remove the custard from the heat and add the vanilla seeds.
Cover the surface with cling film to prevent a skin forming or leave to cool.
Butter a 15 x 20 cm baking tin and line the base with half the filo pastry, brushing each sheet with melted butter and spreading one on top of the other. Spread the cooled custard evenly with a spatula over the pastry and turn the edges of the pastry over the custard to keep it from oozing out.
Cover the surface of the custard with remaining sheets of filo pastry, each brushed with melted butter. Brush the top with more melted butter and seal the edges with a little cold water. Score the top layer of pastry with a sharp knife diagonally across the tin about 8cm apart and in both directions to form diamond shapes. Bake in the oven for 30-35 minutes until golden brown.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool before cutting into six slices.
For the syrup, put the sugar, lemon rind, cinnamon and cloves with 150ml of water into a pan. Bring to the boil, reduce the heat and simmer for about 5 minutes. Then add the lemon juice and rose water and simmer for a further 2-3 minutes. Strain the cinnamon stick, lemon rind and cloves out of the hot syrup before pouring it carefully all over the cold pastry.
To make the coulis, put the raspberries, icing sugar, lemon juice and rose water into a blender together with 1 tbsp of water and blend for a few seconds. Pass through a sieve to remove the seeds.
To serve, place a custard slice in the centre of each plate and drizzle the coulis around it. Decorate with the raspberries and dust with icing sugar.
If that all sounds like too much hard work, why not pop over to the Olive Tree Greek restaurants in Leeds and eat it there!
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oooh that looks good enough to eat! i could so eat that right now x
Haha, it is amazing, you will love it x
I love using filo pastry and this combination looks simply mouth watering.
Oh thanks Angela xx
sounds like a dessert that would be good hot or cold!! x
This looks so tasty, custard and pastry, oh my! thanks for hosting 🙂
Ooh so glad you like it Lucy, thanks x
Mmmm these look delicious. Thank you for hosting xx
Thanks lovely and for joining in x
That looks gorgeous, I know my hubby and son would both love it, I will have to give it a try
Ooh hope they like it x
Wow, that looks beautiful! I think i’m drooling a little…xx
Oh thanks, will let my Dad know, he’ll be chuffed x
Wow! I must visit your Dad’s restauarant! Another divine sounding pudding
You must then we could meet too, yay x
Just realised I’d forgotten to link up this morning!
This dessert looks like one of my favourites: Millefeuille (without the ‘mille’, really!). Yum!
Oh yes I’ve eaten that, very similar! Thanks darling for linking up x
Oh these look delicious!! x
Thanks Laura x
That looks so beyond delicious! And your dad sounds like he’s a wizard in the kitchen. Thanks for hosting!
.:Marta:.
Thanks sweetie, he is very talented x
Thanks for hosting another tasty-looking Tuesday! And that custard pastry looks amazing 🙂
Thanks, it’s the perfect marriage of the crispy filo with the delicate thick custard within, dreamy x
Seriously pretty, but beyond my capabilities I suspect. I must get up to Leeds sometime as your pictures are seriously making me want to check out the Olive Tree.
I bet you could make this Sarah but please let me know if you get to Leeds, would be lovely to meet you x
Mmm, this sounds just like the kind of thing I love.
So glad you like it x
That dessert looks amazing! Now I’m hungry, so I’ll just munch on my healthy apple to stave of custard pangs. I’m not great working with filo pastry but I may just have to give it another go for this dessert!
Haha yes an apple is much healthier too. You will love it, honest x
Hi Vicki, thanks for hosting this linkup! This pastry looks delish, especially with the raspberry coulis too…mmm! I’m sharing a dessert too this week: sugar free apple pie (vegan, wheat free). Have a great week!
Oh fab, cannot wait to read that, thanks for linking up x
Good morning Vicki! Thanks for hosting! This week I’m sharing my Paleo Pizza.
I hope you have a great week!
Oh wow looking forward to that! Thanks for linking up x
Oh my word this is right up my street! Filo pastry is the best. Thanks for hosting the link up x
It’s amazing isn’t it! Thanks hun x
This looks exactly like a dessert my Czech grandmother used to make when I was little. Would love to see if it tastes the same. Well, the only option is to make it. x
You must or the other option is come to Leeds to eat it here! Yay xx
Looks fabulous, I’ve just had breakfast but want a piece already!
Thanks, wish I had some here right now x
Filo pastry is SO good. My dad would make me custard slices when I was little!
Oh yum, this is a Greek custard slice really x
Wow! That does look fabulous. I do love #tastytuesdays with all the amazing recipes here I’ll never need to buy another recipe book!
Oh what a lovely thing to say, thank you x
This look so delicious.I absolutely love properly made custard desserts. Yum!
So glad you like it, it’s truly gorgeous x
oooOoooh that looks like a really yummy recipe! Might have to try it! 🙂 x
Thanks Laura, it’s yummy!x
I LOVE custard filo pastry – this recipe looks delicious!!
Thanks darling, I love it x
Oh heavens this recipe sounds like the perfect pudding!
It is amazing Elizabeth x
Oh my. I absolutely adore this kind of dessert! Really beautiful presentation 🙂
Thanks so much, it’s my absolute favourite of all the Greek desserts x
This looks really unusual and I want to try it! You are really lucky to have such a creative dad, Vicki! x Mel
@Mel thanks so much, yes truly creative lot here x
This looks amazing. Your dad is a natural too, well done Papa G. I can totally recommend the Olive Tree too, it’s fabulous!
Thank you lovely. Papa G is loving his new fans 😉
Damn you to hell woman! I am dribbling all over the keyboard and am this close to breaking my diet
Haha! This dessert is worth breaking your diet for (just for today). It makes life worth living. Seriously.
How absolutely and totally delicious this looks. Is it wrong to be craving it already when I’m barely past breakfast?!
Is it wrong I ate it for breakfast? hehe x