SERVES 8
SKILL LEVEL: EASY
COOK TIME: 15 MINS.
PREP TIME: 15 MINS.
COST: $
All of us on The Chew—and that includes the crew and the audience—really love Mario’s Sebadas. Here’s a version with less calories from fat, white flour, and sugar. I realize that you’re not going to make a pastry with no fat, no flour, and no sweetener: Why bother? The big difference here is Mario’s recipe has a rich filling in a heavy dough, while I make a slightly less sweetened ricotta filling inside of wafer-thin phyllo dough, and then I bake instead of frying. You’re always cutting down on calories from fat when you bake instead of fry. If you count calories, mine have 600 calories less. If you can get true dessert satisfaction with fewer calories, it’s definitely worth thinking about.
2 cups sheep’s milk ricotta
1 egg
2 tablespoons honey
1 teaspoon vanilla
Pinch of salt
1 package phyllo dough, thawed
4 ounces butter, melted
1. Preheat the oven to 350 °F.
2. In a mixing bowl, stir together the ricotta, egg, honey, vanilla, and salt until well blended.
3. Lay out the phyllo sheets, two at a time, with the shortest side closest to you, and brush with butter. Cut the phyllo vertically into three equal pieces. Place 2 tablespoons of the mixture at the end closest to you, and fold the corner upward to make a triangle. Continue folding all the way up (you should have a triangular packet).
4. Place the packet on a sheet pan and brush with a little more butter. Once all of the packets are made, place the sheet pan into the oven and cook until golden brown, about 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and transfer to a platter. Drizzle a little extra honey over the packets.