Leftover Phyllo Dough Pastries

1. Bring milk to a boil in a small saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in farina and reduce heat. Whisk vigorously over very low heat until mixture is smooth, thick, and detaches from the bottom of the pan, about 3 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool, about 15 minutes.

2. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a muffin pan.

3. Stir egg and honey into the cooled farina and whisk until smooth. Add walnuts, apricots, orange extract, and orange peel. Stir well to combine.

4. Work with 1 phyllo sheet at a time, covering the rest with a tea towel so they won't dry out. Fold phyllo sheet in half widthwise, then cut it in half widthwise with scissors. Place each of the phyllo pieces in a muffin cup and gently press down so it fills the cup and sits on the bottom. Proceed the same way with the rest of the phyllo sheets.

5. Distribute the filling among the muffin cups. Pinch the phyllo tops together with your fingertips to seal. Drizzle tops with melted butter.

6. Bake in the preheated oven until tops start to brown, about 15 minutes. Use a dinner knife to loosen pastries out of the muffin cups and transfer to a baking sheet. Continue baking until evenly browned, 10 to 15 minutes more.

7. Serve lukewarm or at room temperature.

Tips

Cook's Notes:

The filling is highly adaptable. You can use 1 1/3 cup well-drained Greek yogurt or ricotta instead of the milk and farina mixture.

Any type of nuts can be used instead of walnuts: almonds, pecans, hazelnuts, pistachios, etc. Whatever you like best. You can also adapt the fruit in the filling to what you have: dried cranberries, figs, currants, etc. You can also add a little cinnamon.

Sugar can be used instead of honey and cooking spray instead of melted butter.