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Burek recipe


Burek

Whether it is meat or spinach, burek remains one of the most popular dishes in Turkish cuisine. Here's how to prepare it with the original recipe.

Burek (or börek) is a dish of Turkish origin which has gradually spread to the rest of the world due to its simplicity of preparation and unique flavour. In reality, in its country of origin, the term indicates the rolled shape given to the pastry and is therefore followed by another word which also indicates the filling.

The most widespread type of borek is the one with a minced meat-based filling which, in predominantly Muslim countries, is never pork. Another variant instead requires it to be prepared with a filling made of feta and spinach . What remains unchanged is the basic dough, yufka , or phyllo dough.

Let's see together how to cook this delicious savory cake with oriental aromas!

Burek
Burek

How to prepare burek recipe

For this preparation you need sheets of phyllo pastry , which are increasingly easy to find at the supermarket in the ready-made puff pastry section or online. They are delicate and tend to dry out easily, so once you open the package we recommend using it immediately . If you can't find phyllo dough, you can make it at home with our recipe !

  1. Finely chop the onion and brown it in a pan with oil until it is tender and transparent.
  2. Then add the spinach , cover with the lid and leave to dry without adding water. When they are tender, uncover and allow excess liquids to evaporate – which could compromise the success of the dish.
  3. Let them cool, and add the crumbled feta with your hands; season with salt and pepper .
  4. Unroll the sheets of phyllo pastry, and overlap two of them, brushing the middle with melted butter . Place a little filling two cm from the long edge to form a strip, then roll up tightly .
  5. Place the cylinder thus obtained inside the cake tin, starting from the center and forming a sort of snail which you will complete by gradually preparing other rolls with the remaining ingredients.
  6. Brush with milk and bake at 200°C for 20 minutes . If you like, you can decorate the surface with sesame seeds.

As mentioned, you can also prepare the burek with meat: we suggest you get around 1 kg of minced meat ( beef or mixed pork, you choose). Cook it in a pan with sautéed onion and add white wine before using it as a filling for the filo pastry.

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storage

This typical dish can also be kept for 2-3 days in the refrigerator, inside a special food container with an airtight lid. We do not recommend freezing in the freezer.

History and origins of the Turkish burek

The history of this dish is a bit particular: in fact it does not refer to a specific recipe but to dishes that are always prepared with phyllo dough ( yufka in Turkish ). Furthermore, the term bur has the meaning of rolling, and this is precisely what happens with phyllo dough in these cases: stuffed with a vegetarian or meat-based filling, then rolled into a spiral shape.

There are many preparations that are described with this term, accompanied by a second adjective that better describes the dish and the definitive shape it is given: cigar-shaped, chopped, etc.


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