Burek

Burek is a type of baked filled pastry made from a thin flaky dough stuffed with various contents like as meat, spinach, potatoes, or cheese. It's a common ingredient in the cuisines of the Balkans, the South Caucasus, Central Asia, and the Levant, where it's known as börek or bourekas. Burek comes in a variety of shapes and sizes. It can be baked in a large pan and then divided into smaller pieces, or it can be made as individual pastries. The meal's actual origins are unknown, however it is thought to be a Turkish delicacy that originated in the Ottoman Empire's kitchens.

Ingredients

• Burek Dough: 500 all-purpose flour (3.5 cups), 1 teaspoon of salt, 300-350mls lukewarm water (1 1/4 - 1 1/2 cups), Vegetable oil
• Burek Cheese Filling:, 150 g cottage cheese (2/3 cup), 100 g crumbled feta cheese (2/3 cup), 1 large beaten egg
• Meat And Potato Filling: 1 tablespoon of olive oil, 1 medium, diced onion, 300 g lean beef mince (10 oz), 1 potato, boiled cut into small cubes, 2 grated garlic cloves, Half teaspoon chopped rosemary, fresh is best, Half tablespoon smoked paprika, Half tablespoon salt

Instructions

• How To Make Burek Dough:
• Take a large bowl and combine the flour and the salt
• Add the water bit by bit, mixing until the mixture forms a dough
• Knead the dough for around five minutes, until it turns quite stretchy
• Split the dough mixture into batches of four and press down to flatten
• You need to find a bowl or a pan which is large enough to hold the dough when it is piled up on top of each other
• Add a little bit of vegetable oil to the pan or bowl and put the first flattened piece of dough inside
• Add a bit more oil (not too much), and add another piece of dough – repeat until you’ve done the same with all four pieces
• Add more vegetable oil on top of the last piece and place to one side to rest
• Preheat your oven to around 200°C (390°F)
• Add a little vegetable oil over your work surface (a table is best) – just a little!
• Remove one piece of dough from the bowl and remove the excess oil
• Flatten the piece of dough until it reaches a thickness of no more than around half a centimeter
• Handle the dough and stretch it outwards, over and over, so that you pull it to around 1 meter in diameter – you might end up with a few holes but don’t worry about it too much. By the end, you should be able to see through the dough
• Take one side of the dough disc and fold it over, towards the center
• Repeat this process until you have a shape that resembles a pentagon
• Repeat with the second piece of dough
• Add your filling (see below for the filling instructions) to the dough piece
• Add the first piece of stretched dough into the middle of the second one, and cut away the thick edge of the second piece – you can throw this away, you won’t need it
• Fold over the edges of the dough, so that you get a pentagon shape once more, and put it into a baking pan or tray
• Put the pan in the oven and bake for around half an hour, until it is a golden color
• Remove from the oven and let it cool down
• Cut into 12 pieces
• Repeat the process with the rest of the dough
• Bake until the pastry turns golden, and serve while warm!
• For The Cheese Filling:
• Take a mixing bowl and add in both kinds of cheese, combining together
• Add the egg and combine once more
• For The Meat & Potato Filling:
• Take a large pan and heat up the oil over a medium heat
• Add the onion and cook until soft
• Now, add the mince and cook for around 2 minutes, stirring regularly
• Now, add the potato, the rosemary, the garlic, and the paprika, and stir to combine
• Add the salt and continue to cook, ensuring the beef mince is cooked through
• Once cooked, drain the beef with a sieve to get rid of any excess oil and press down to dry it out