Everyday Epicurean

Börek is a Turkish pastry traditionally filled with Spinach and Fetta cheese made from sheep’s milk.

I made a slightly different version for dinner tonight.

h2. Ingredients.

h3. Pastry

* 2 cups plain flour
* 1 cup semolina
* ½ cup of olive oil
* ½ cup of milk
* 1 egg
* 1 teaspoon of salt

h3. Filling

* about 10 leaves of silverbeat, washed and de-stalked
* 1 cup of grated cheese (I used mozzarella/parmesan mix)
* 3 rashers of bacon, diced
* 1 onion, grated
* salt and pepper

h3. Topping

* ½ of yoghurt (greek style)
* 3½ Tablespoons of olive oil
* 2 Tablespoons of plain flour
* ½ teaspoon of salt
* sesame seeds for sprinkling

h2. Method

h3. Pastry

Place all the ingredients in a mixing bowl, and knead thoroughly until combined and smooth. Allow to rest for 15 mins.

h3. Filing

Wash and shred the silverbeat leaves. Blanch them in boiling water for about 1 min. Remove and drain thoroughly.
Place all the ingredients in a mixing bowl and mix well.

h3. Börek

Pre-heat oven to 180C.

Make a long cylinder from the dough with a diameter of about 1.5 inches. Cut off about an inch or so of dough and roll out very thin (1 to 2 mm in thickness). Using a pasta cutter, cut a circle of pastry and place about 1.5 to 2 teaspoons of filling in the centre.
Fold one side of the pastry over onto the other to form a crescent and seal the edge with the tines of a fork.

In an oven-proof dish, place some olive oil and arrange the börek such that the thick side of one, resets on the thin side of the one under it (this prevents the edges from overcooking too much).

When the tray is full, paint each parcel with the yoghurt topping and sprinkle with sesame seeds.

Bake for 35 minutes.