Savory Phyllo Bake

Ingredients
¹⁄₄ cup pine nuts
¹⁄₂ cup sundried tomatoes, chopped
8 ounces frozen artichoke hearts, thawed and chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil
3-4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into small cubes
2 tablespoons pesto
¹⁄₂ cup white wine, divided
8 ounces mushrooms, sliced
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon dried rosemary
¹⁄₂ cup ricotta cheese
1 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded
16-20 sheets phyllo dough, thawed
8 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 pint grape or cherry tomatoes
¹⁄₂ cup balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon honey

Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 350*F. 

2. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium heat and toast pine nuts until fragrant, stirring often.  Remove pine nuts from skillet and mix in medium bowl with sundried tomatoes and artichoke hearts. 

3. Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil over medium heat.  Add chicken to the skillet and cook until done.  Remove to a bowl and stir in pesto and ¹⁄₄ cup wine. 

4. Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil over medium heat.  Place mushrooms in the skillet and cook until browned.  Add garlic, rosemary, and ¹⁄₄ cup wine.  Cook until liquid is absorbed.  Remove from heat, stir in ricotta and set aside. 

5. Gently lay 1 sheet of phyllo dough on a large baking sheet.  Using a pastry brush, spread melted butter over the sheet.  Repeat with 3 to 4 sheets of phyllo, brushing butter between each sheet.  Spread the pesto chicken so that it covers the dough completely. 

6. Layer another 4 to 5 sheets of phyllo and melted butter.  Spread the mushroom mixture over the dough.  Layer 4 to 5 more sheets of phyllo and melted butter.  Top with pine nut mixture. 

7. Top with remaining 4 to 5 sheets of phyllo and butter.  Brush butter over the top sheet for better browning.  Bake for 20 minutes, then lower heat to 300*F and bake for another 15-20 minutes, or until top is golden brown. 

8. Meanwhile place tomatoes, balsamic vinegar, and honey in a small saucepan and cook, stirring occasionally, over low heat until the tomatoes break apart and reduce to half their normal size.  The sauce will be ready after 10 minutes, but you can reduce it longer to the thickness and richness you desire.  (I reduced mine quite a bit as you can see in the picture.) 

9. To serve, cut phyllo bake into pieces and top with tomato sauce. 

Note: When working with phyllo dough, cover the unused sheets with a damp, clean kitchen towel to prevent them drying out. 

Comments
I wish I knew where this recipe was from originally since I’d love to credit the person who came up with the original concept! It’s sort of like lasagna with phyllo dough instead of pasta sheets.  I get my phyllo dough in boxes of 18 sheets and this recipe nicely uses an entire box.  (I have a thing about recipes that don’t use entire boxes/containers of things.  They bother me.) 

This recipe is fantastic; the flavors are all phenomenal and work great together.  The dish combines a lot of Art’s favorite ingredients, which is a big bonus.  Do try to make sure that the fillings between the layers extend all the way to the edges of the dough so the edge pieces are just as nice as the middle pieces.

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