Express Tikvenik
Тиквеник·(tik-veh-nik)
Sunday Moussaka & Stuffed Comforts
Forget babysitting grated squash on the stove. Modern cooks yank a box of supermarket phyllo from the fridge, unrolling the sheets across a half-sheet pan before the oven even hits 400°F. Their secret to a weeknight tikvenik is beautifully simple: blitz butternut squash in a food processor and toss the raw shreds with a little semolina to soak up the juices as it bakes. No stove, no soggy pastry. Fold in crushed walnuts for a lazy masterpiece that shatters perfectly on the first bite, smelling of toasted butter and hot cinnamon. Slice the pastry hot.
Before you start
Thaw the phyllo overnight.
Phyllo dough must be thawed in the refrigerator, never on the counter, to prevent the fragile sheets from condensing and turning into a gummy, unusable block.
Ingredients
- butternut squash1 1/2 lb
- granulated sugar1 cup
- walnuts1 1/2 cup
- ground cinnamon1 tbsp
- semolina3 tbsp
- phyllo dough16 oz
- unsalted butter1/2 cup
- neutral oil1/4 cup
- powdered sugar1/4 cup
Method
- 01
Preheat the oven and prepare your pan.
Preheat the oven to 375°F. Whisk the melted butter and neutral oil together in a small bowl, then brush a 10-inch or 12-inch round baking dish or cast-iron skillet with the mixture.
- 02
Grate the squash.
Run the butternut squash chunks through a food processor fitted with the grating attachment. If you don't have a food processor, a box grater and some elbow grease work just as well.
- 03
Mix the filling right before rolling.
Toss the grated squash, sugar, walnuts, cinnamon, and semolina in a large bowl until evenly coated. Do not let this sit too long, or the sugar will pull excess water from the squash.
- 04
Layer and grease the phyllo.
Unroll the phyllo dough and cover it with a slightly damp kitchen towel to keep it from drying out. Lay one sheet on your work surface, lightly brush or splatter it with the butter mixture, and place a second sheet directly on top, greasing it again.
- 05
Fill and roll the cylinders.
Scatter about 3/4 cup of the pumpkin mixture evenly across the phyllo, leaving a 1-inch border at the edges. Starting from the long edge closest to you, roll the sheets tightly into a long cigar shape.
- 06
Coil the pastry.
Place the first cylinder in the center of the baking dish and coil it into a tight spiral. Repeat the filling and rolling with the remaining phyllo, attaching each new cylinder to the end of the last to continue the spiral outward until the pan is full.
- 07
Bake to a shatter.
Generously brush the entire coiled pastry with the remaining butter mixture. Bake on the middle rack for 45 to 55 minutes until deeply golden brown, tenting loosely with foil after 30 minutes if the top is browning too rapidly.
- 08
Rest, dust, and serve.
Let the tikvenik cool in the pan for at least 30 minutes so the semolina can finish absorbing the internal steam. Shower it heavily with powdered sugar before serving warm or at room temperature.
Notes
The Grandma Secret.
The semolina is non-negotiable here. It acts as a sponge for the raw pumpkin juices, giving you a tender filling and a crisp shell without having to pre-cook the squash on the stove.
Do not use canned pumpkin.
The texture of this dish relies entirely on the structural integrity of fibrous, freshly grated squash. Canned puree will result in a wet, dense paste and ruin the phyllo.