I have a roll of Phyllo Dough that I want to use. The dough is thawed, company is gone. I want to use the dough but since there are only two in the family, I want to be able to create the recipe and then freeze if possible. So my question is. Can I prepare the dough with the filling and freeze unbaked? Or, can I bake the dough and then freeze? Of is both of these things not good to do. I have leftover mascarpone and pumpking and want to redo the pumpink streusel that I made for Thanksgiving. Hope someone can help me out on this.
While you should not re-freeze phyllo dough, you can freeze cooked items that you make using it. If it's properly wrapped it should last about a month. "Properly wrapped" means airtight (preferably vacuum packed) in a high quality freezer bag.
I use phyllo mostly for spanakopita. Made with olive oil instead of butter and lots of spinach it's not too bad for you. We just had it the other night and I was down to only one egg to put in the filling. We think we even liked it better than the usual 3 or 4 egg filling. Leftover pieces reheated in the microwave make a great lunch.
Saute some onion in olive oil and sweat a bag-full of fresh spinach on top. Drain the spinach/onion mixture and stir with a beaten egg (or more), a container of crumbled feta, pepper, and some freshly grated nutmeg or minced dill or whatever you wish to season it with and assemble. Note, I am using such measurements as "bag-full" and "container" with purpose. The mixture need not be measured precisely so go with the flow as to what your grocery has and your own druthers. Sometimes I saute mushrooms with the onions.*
*Truth be told, since onions have hubby up at night we use celery laced with hing (asafoetida) as a substitute.
I already did the strudel using the leftover mascarpone cheese, pumpkin puree, etc. They are baked and am going to freeze them. Thanks for the tips.