Pashtidot are a key part of the Israeli kitchen, nearly every family a beloved version (or two) they never tire of making. And new recipes have continued to star in Israeli cookbooks over the years, adapting to the culinary trends of the era and the ingredients available.  

The first cookbooks dedicated entirely to the topic were published in the 1980s — first by Benny Saida and shortly after by Kobi Bar, who authored three books dedicated to the popular pie. Over the years, Ruth Sirkis, Nira Russo, Hanna Shaulov, Zipporah Kreizman, and Danit Salomon added their voices to the library of pashtidot cookbooks.

Today, “pashtidot recipes” is a popular search term on Google year round but during Shavuot, it almost doubles. And, in recent years, it’s also become a Hanukkah standard, served alongside latkes and sufganiyot after lighting the candles. 

For Shavuot this year, we asked five chefs and food writers to share a family or personal recipe for pashtida and the story behind it. Celebrated cookbook author Adeena Sussman told us about the pashtidot her mother made to use up leftover cheese from a small kosher dairy business her family ran out of their California garage. And MasterChef winner Hillel Gardi recalled the simple zucchini pashtidot his family found in his grandmother’s refrigerator after she passed away.