*Stephen feels uncomfortable on camera*

For this recipe, we’ll start by making some clarified butter. The recipe calls for 1-1 1/4 cups clarified butter, so I just threw a pound (1 package) in a saucepan.

Next, go through the ingredient list and get all of the components ready. After the 5 scallions have been chopped, saute them lightly in the 4 tablespoons of butter until they’re translucent.

Then comes the most time-consuming part of this recipe, the layering and “painting” of the dough. Make sure you’ve pulled the phyllo sheets from the freezer and allowed them to come to room temperature; you won’t be able to work with them otherwise. The package I got says five hours on the counter.

At this point, you can get your oven preheating to 375 degrees F.

Note: not all packages have the same number of sheets.

In the recipe, it says you should have 30 sheets, and to put down 15, then the filling. My package only had 18 sheets, so I put down 9, painting butter between each, then the filling spread evenly to the sides of the pan, followed by 6 more phyllo sheets, painting as you go, then the last 3 sheets together as one to top it all off, with a final coat of butter over the very top.

What I didn’t make a video of was the cutting. This part is actually pretty important, because it really affects how the top layers of dough cook, and how the final product will end up looking. I tried my best to emulate the way they cut in the recipe: 4 lines down the length of the pan, five across the width, with diagonal cuts through each square. I think I managed it all right, for eyeballing it. You may prefer to measure. Ultimately, the style is up to you, but it is important to paint the butter into the cuts you make, and to cut as gently through the dough as possible.

Then, into the 375-degree oven for 1 hour! I set the initial timer for 45 minutes, because the recipe suggests checking the amount of browning at that time; if it already seems thoroughly golden-brown, put foil over the top for the final 15 minutes of baking. Mine didn’t need it.

Also, I may have painted the butter on a liiiittle too liberally, as it came over the sides of the pan a little bit, falling to the bottom of the oven and smoking like hell. So, I opened a few windows, turned on some fans, and crossed my fingers that the sprinklers in my apartment wouldn’t suddenly come on and soak everything. (Does anyone else have sprinklers in their apartment?? I’ve never seen that before.)

I’m always surprised when I manage to make something look like the picture, but I think it worked out okay!