Recipe from Turkey: Börek - Borek - Burek

One of our Turkish travelers (and her mum) would like to share a typical delicacy of their country : Börek.

Börek (also burek, boereg, and other variants on the name) is a kind of pie popular throughout the former Ottoman Empire. They are made of a thin flaky dough known as phyllo or yufka, and are filled with salty cheese (often feta), minced meat, potatoes or other vegetables. Börek may be prepared in a large pan and cut into portions after baking, or as individual pastries. The top of the börek is often sprinkled with sesame seeds.

Here is her recipe, based on a meat & spinach filling:

1. the Main Ingredients:

4 sheets of round Phyllo Pastry
1 tea glass of extra virgin olive oil
1 glass of milk
4 eggs
40 x 40 cm pyrex casserole dish

2. the Spinach Filling:

1 kg fresh spinach
1 onion, chopped
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Salt
Black pepper

3. the Meat Filling:

150 gr minced meat
1 small onion, chopped
1 tea sp of water
Salt
Black pepper

4. Preparation for Spinach:

Put the salt, pepper, olive oil and onion in a pan. Cook on medium heat for two minutes. Add the spinach and continue cooking until all liquid has evaporated. Put aside and add the meat.

5. Preparation for Meat: Put the salt, black pepper, meat and onion in a pan. Cook on medium heat until the beef is done and add it to the spinach.

Now we can move on to the main ingredients. In a bowl, mix the eggs, add olive oil and milk while continuing to mix with a whisk. This liquid mix will go between every layers of the pastry, and will complement the filling. The filling will go in the middle only.

Grease the casserole dish. Place one sheet of the pastry untidily in the bottom and over the sides of the dish. Spread 2-3 tablespoons of the liquid mix on top. Take another sheet of pastry, do the same. Then, spread all of your main filling. Place the 3rd sheet of the pastry untidily and spread 2-3 tablespoons of the liquid mix on top. Take the last sheet of pastry, do the same. Cut into pieces

Leave the casserole dish in the fridge for 2-3 hours, this way it will be more crispy and tasty. Bake until golden brown at 200 C, for approximately 25 minutes.

You can have it as a main dish (6 servings) or with afternoon tea as a snack.