Börek

I’ve been meaning to make one of these for ages having seen the talented @melizcook make loads of then over on her feed. I decided to create a big one, but I’m going to have a go at making the little individual ones very soon. For those of you that haven’t tried Börek, it’s a Turkish pie which can be made using spinach and either feta or Cypriot ricotta. There are other versions made with meat and another with potatoes. It was actually much easier than I thought it would be to make and I absolutely loved it. I used @melizcooks recipe and like all her recipes it worked perfectly.

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INGREDIENTS

1 onion - finely chopped

5 cloves garlic - crushed or finely chopped

1-2 teaspoons Pul Biber

450g Spinach leaves

12 sheets of filo pastry

1 tablespoon butter - melted

1 beaten egg

1 block of feta or Cypriot ricotta

1-2 teaspoons sesame seeds

1 teaspoon nigella seeds

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METHOD

Preheat the oven to 170 degrees.

Sauté the onion until soft, then add the garlic and pul biber. Add the spinach and wilt down. Place the spinach mixture into a sieve and push with the back of a spoon to remove any liquid (Meliz says “ nobody wants a soggy borek!”) and allow to cool. Arrange the filo sheets in a long line with double layers overlapping by about 5cm (see stories) brush with egg and then butter. Add the cooled spinach along the bottom of the line and sprinkle with crumbled feta. Roll up into a sausage. Then roll into a spiral. Brush with egg and then butter. Sprinkle with the seeds and cook for 30-40 minutes or until golden.

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