Turkish cigars with cheese and herbs

Ingredients:

• 6 sheets of filo pastry, 40-42 x 30 cm, thawed according to package directions*
• 120 g of cottage cheese
• 60 g feta, crumbled
• 1/4 tbsp. grated mozzarella
• 1 large egg
• 3 tbsp finely chopped parsley
• 2 tbsp finely chopped dill
• 1 tbsp. l. chopped chives
• 0.5 tsp. grated lemon zest
• 6 tbsp (90 g) butter, melted

Preparation:

1. Preheat oven to 200°C.
2. In a bowl, mash the cottage cheese, feta, and mozzarella together with a fork. Stir in the egg, then add the parsley, dill, onion, lemon zest, and a generous pinch of black pepper.
3. Place a damp, clean towel on the table. Lay out the phyllo sheets and cover them with another damp, clean towel.
4. Place 1 sheet of phyllo on a cutting board with the long side facing you and brush it with a thin layer of butter. Place another sheet of phyllo on top and lightly brush it with butter. Then place a third sheet of phyllo and brush it with butter. Cut the stack in half crosswise, then cut each half horizontally into thirds. Place the rectangles on a baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining sheets of dough.
5. Next, working with one stack of dough at a time, spoon 1 heaping tablespoon of the cheese mixture along the long side of each rectangle, leaving 1 cm from the edges. Fold the sides over the filling, then roll the filling into the dough from the bottom edge up. Place the resulting cigar seam-side down on a baking sheet and brush with a thin layer of butter. Repeat with the remaining dough, filling, and butter.
6. Bake the cigars, rotating the baking sheet halfway through, until crisp and golden brown, about 25 minutes. Transfer to a serving platter and serve.
   
   Note
   
   Filo sheets vary slightly in size. They can be large, as in the ingredient list above, or half the size. Large sheets vary in size by a couple of centimeters. Regardless of size, the key is to get six equal rectangles from each stack of three large sheets..