Based on a traditional Bulgarian dish, this easy pumpkin dessert comes together quickly, and you don't have to precook the pumpkin!
Ingredients
1 cup Pumpkin, shredded (about ¼ of a small pumpkin)
½ cup Ricotta Cheese
1 Tbsp Honey
⅓ cup Walnuts, crushed
2 tsp Cinnamon or Pumpkin Pie Spice
2 Tbsp Sugar
8 sheets Phyllo Dough
1 tsp Butter, melted (or olive oil)
Instructions
Preheat oven to 335F. Combine shredded pumpkin, ricotta and honey. Mix well. In a small container, mix the cinnamon & sugar together.
Work with 2 sheets of phyllo dough at a time, keep the others covered until you are ready for them.
Lay out a double layer of phyllo dough. Spread ~1/4 of the pumpkin/ricotta mixture as thin as possible along the phyllo, leaving about a ½" gap across the top of the longest edge to seal the roll.
Sprinkle some of the cinnamon sugar along the top of the pumpkin mixture and add about 1 tbsp of crushed walnuts, sprinkling evenly along the top.
Roll the phyllo dough up fairly tightly width wise. Keeping the seam side down, take hold of one end of the roll. Roll the end in tightly along itself, keep going until you have a tight spiral. Place the spiral in a parchment lined pie pan or baking dish.
Repeat with the next set of 2 sheets of phyllo dough, only instead of spiraling it up on itself, continue where you left off on the first spiral.
Repeat the process again, continuing to expand the spiral, with the final 2 sets of phyllo sheets.
When the spiral is finished, brush with a bit of melted butter, sprinkle with any remaining cinnamon sugar and/or nuts. Bake for 35-40 minutes.
Allow it to cool about 10 minutes. Then serve!
Notes
This also works well with other kinds of squash, try acorn or butternut squash
Recipe by Super Foods Life at https://www.superfoodslife.com/pumpkin-banitsa/