Although sometimes they can be easily confused, phyllo dough and puff pastry are two different kind of preparation base.
First of all, fillo dough, whose name derives from the Greek “phyllo” (φύλλο) and which means “leaf”, is a particular different type of puff pastry (that normally is in generally based on flour, water and butter) which does not include the use of butter but rather olive oil. So the first difference between phyllo dough and puff pastry is the type of fat used: butter for puff pastry, olive oil for phyllo dough.
The origins of phyllo dough are disputed between Turkey and Greece, although it is commonly believed that phyllo dough was made in Constantinople after the Ottoman conquest, through the modification of a type of pasta already present in Turkish cuisine; however, there is no complete certainty also because of the many sweets very similar as dough and result to the current sweets of the Turks, commonly made in the past already in the Byzantine Empire.
The phyllo dough is therefore made by spreading in a mixture of water and flour, respectively in 40% and 60% quantities, a dough that once thinned can also receive cornstarch on its surface to better separate the various sheets.
The layers must be at least 4 thin sheets of phyllo dough to make the minimum necessary thickness in the dishes. Then, after creating the dough of flour and water (with a pinch of salt), knead the dough and let it rest for 30/30 minutes; after doing this, divide the dough into small equal pieces, leave them to rest for 5 minutes and then start laying them on the table: you will need to obtain the thinnest possible pasta discs.
Already in this way the actual “phyllo” pasta would be made; but then when do you use oil? Olive or seed oil must be brushed on each sheet before being inserted into the dish you want to prepare as a base: in this way, cooking in the oven will make the pasta taste better.
A very important and not at all simple thing: try to get each sheet of phyllo dough as thin as possible, with a maximum thickness of a few millimeters.
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