Croatian Milk Pie

The "Mliječna Pita" is a very popular pastry in Croatia and in all the countries that were formerly part of the former Yugoslavia.

"Mliječna" means dairy or milk in Croatian, while "pita" is a word that appears in almost all the languages of the region, including Greek, and can mean both bread and pastry (as it does in this case).

It is made with a base that is filled with a mixture of semolina, eggs, and, above all, milk, and finally covered with a top layer made from the same base dough.

This Milk Pie has a very mild flavor, and as soon as you take a bite, you'll understand why it's so popular. Moreover, it's very easy to make. If you want to make it quickly, you can use puff pastry instead of making the base from scratch.

INGREDIENTS:

For the base (crust) and top:

- 250 g of flour (9 oz)

- 125 g of cold butter (4 oz)

- 1 egg

- 1 tablespoon of sugar

- A pinch of salt

If you don't want to waste time, you can buy 2 sheets of puff pastry as a substitute for all the above ingredients.

For the filling:

- 1 liter of milk (5 cups)

- 4 eggs

- 200 g (7 oz) of sugar

- 1 packet of vanilla sugar

- 100 g (3.5 oz) of semolina*

- 100 g (3.5 oz) of raisins (optional)

- Grated zest of one lemon

* It's better to use fine semolina. As you may know, semolina is crushed hard wheat grain. Hard wheat is used to make pasta but not for making bread, for example. If you were to grind the semolina further, you'd get the same flour used for making macaroni, spaghetti, etc.

Preparation of the base and top:

1. In a large bowl, mix the flour, cold butter cut into cubes, egg, sugar, and a pinch of salt.

2. Knead the mixture until you get a smooth and homogeneous dough. If you have a dough mixer or a food processor with this function, it's time to use it.

3. Divide the dough into two parts, one slightly larger than the other.

4. Grease a pie mold with butter and spread the larger piece of dough on the bottom of the mold and along the sides to form the edge. Make sure the dough covers the entire mold. As mentioned before, if you want to skip this process, buy puff pastry and you'll only need to mold it to the base.

Preparation of the filling:

1. In a large saucepan, heat the milk without allowing it to boil and add the semolina, stirring constantly to avoid lumps.

2. Cook the semolina over medium heat until it thickens. Then, remove it from the heat and let it cool a bit.

3. In a separate bowl, beat the eggs with the sugar and vanilla sugar until the mixture is smooth and creamy.

4. Add the lemon zest and raisins (if you are using them) to the egg mixture.

5. Now pour the semolina mixture over the bottom of the dough that you had placed in the mold.

6. Roll out the smaller piece of dough into a circle and place it on top of the filling.

7. Seal the edges of the pie, making sure the top dough is well connected to the base.

Baking:

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C (356°F).

2. Bake the pie for about 40-45 minutes, or until it's golden brown on top (if you want it to be very golden, you can brush it with egg yolk, but it's usually not necessary).

3. After the time has passed, let the pie cool, sprinkle powdered sugar on top if desired, and cut it into servings.

You'll be amazed at how delicious it is!