From Fiona Haynes,
Your Guide to Low Fat Cooking.
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These tissue-paper-thin pastry sheets make a great low fat alternative to regular pastry. Phyllo, or filo, dough has no saturated fat or trans fat, and no cholesterol. Phyllo dough is light, crisp and flaky, and so long as you use butter-flavored cooking spray between layers rather than real melted butter, it's a perfect low fat choice for making savory or sweet pies, tarts and strudels.

Phyllo dough sheets are rolled in plastic wrap and placed in long, slim boxes. The individual sheets are available in varying sizes, such as 12 inches by 17 inches, 9-inches by 14 inches and 9 inches by 28 inches, depending on the brand. You’ll find phyllo dough in the freezer section of most large grocery stores. Fresh phyllo dough is available at Middle Eastern, Turkish or Greek specialty food stores.

The main criticism of phyllo dough is that it’s hard to handle. The phyllo sheets can be difficult to separate if they don’t thaw properly beforehand, and phyllo dough can dry out and tear if you don’t work quickly enough. With a bit of planning, handling phyllo dough needn’t be a problem. Here’s how to use phyllo dough.

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