Potato Börek (Patatesli Börek)

5 phyllo pastry sheets (yufka) * 6 potatoes * 2 medium onions * 1/2 tsp red pepper * black pepper * 50 ml olive oil * salt * 2 eggs

Peel the potatoes and boil them. Mash the potatoes with a fork. Mince the onions. Sauté the onions in olive oil in a large frying pan. Add the potatoes and seasonings and mix well. Cook for about five minutes and remove from fire. Let it cool down. Grease an oven tray with olive oil.


Open a phyllo pastry sheet and place the filling in one of the extremities. Make a roll.


Place the roll on the oven tray giving a spiral shape.


Proceed in the same way with the remaining phyllo sheets. If the filling is only enough for four phyllo sheets, use only that amount. Place each roll around the previous one. Finally, cover with two beaten eggs.


Cook on a 170° pre-heated oven for about 35 minutes. Let it cool down a little and cut into slices.



Find more börek recipes here.

Chicken Phyllo Rolls (Tavuklu Börek)

For around 15 rolls

1 onion * 2 tablespoons olive oil * 1 cooked and shredded chicken breast * black pepper * salt * red pepper * dried thyme * 3 sheets of filo pastry (yufka) * 1 egg * 3 tablespoons yogurt * 125 g melted margarine

Garrison:

1 yolk

Heat the chopped onion with the oil. Add the chicken and seasonings and cook over low heat for about 10 minutes. Mix the yogurt with an egg and melted margarine. Lay the filo sheets on top of each other, brushing the surface of each one with the liquid mix. Cut equal squares and top each one with the chicken. Roll each one up, tucking the ends inwards. Place on a tray greased with oil. Bake in a preheated oven at around 200º until golden and crispy.

Pasta and Feta Cheese Börek (Yalancı Su Boreği)

Makes 5-6 servings

3 phyllo pastry sheets (yufka) * 250 g pasta (like this one or similar) * 4 eggs * 125 g margarine * 2 cups milk * 70 cl oil * 500 g feta cheese * 100 g parsley * 50 g dill

Cook the pasta, filter and place it on a bowl. Add the crumbled cheese, the margarine (at room temperature), the minced parsley and dill and mix everything very well. In another bowl beat 3 eggs. Add the oil and the milk and mix. Grease an oven tray or a big round oven pan. Cover it with one phyllo pastry sheet. Make the phyllo pastry humid with part of the oil mixture. Then, cover with half of the cheese mixture. Close with the extremities of the phyllo pastry that were out of the pan or tray. With the oil mixture, make that part of the phyllo pastry humid. Cover with another phyllo pastry sheet. This sheet must be totally inside the pan or tray. Make it humid with the oil mixture. Cover with the rest of the filling and then cover with the third phyllo pastry sheet. Beat one egg and brush the surface of the last phyllo pastry sheet. Bake on a 200º preheated oven until the surface of the börek gets brown.

Eggplant Börek (Patlıcanlı Börek)

2 tbsp olive oil * 3 eggplants * 1 onion * 2 green peppers * 2 tomatoes * salt * black pepper * 4 phyllo pastry sheets (yufka) * 2 cups milk * 1/2 cup olive oil * 2 egg whites * 1 egg yolk

To garnish:


1 egg yolk

Peel the eggplants and cut them in small cubes. Place them on a bowl with water and salt for 10 minutes. In the meantime, sauté the minced onion and peppers in 2 tbsp of olive oil. Add the eggplant. Peel the tomatoes, cut in cubes and add them to the other vegetables. Let it cook until all the juice evaporates. Let it cool down and reserve. Prepare a liquid mixture with the olive oil, the milk and the eggs. Place two phylo pastry sheets on a greased oven tray. Make the phylo pastry wet by pouring half of the liquid mixture over it. Cover with the eggplant filling. Then, cover the filling with two phylo pastry sheets and pour on the rest of the liquid. Brush with the egg yolk. Bake on a 200º preheated oven until the surface is brown and crusty. Let it cool down and then cut into squares. You can put on the fridge and heat before serving.

Rice with Chicken and Dried Fruits Covered with Phyllo Pastry (Perde Pilavı)

1 sheet phyllo pastry * 2 cups rice * 2 medium sized onions * 25-30 g butter or 4-5 tbsp olive oil * 1 tbsp dried currants * 1/2 cup sultana raisins * 200 g chicken chest (boiled and cut in small pieces) * 2 tbsp pine-nuts * 1 tsp allspice * salt * 4 cups hot water * 2 tbsp olive oil

Place the rice in a bowl with hot water and salt for 50-60 minutes. Place the dried currants and the sultana raisins in hot water for 30 minutes. Mince the onion and sauté with the olive oil or butter for 3-4 minutes. Filter the rice, add it to the onion and fry for 5-6 minutes stirring with a wood spoon. Add the chicken, boiled and cut in pieces, the sultana raisins and the dried currants (after filtering the water), the pine-nuts, the allspice, the salt and four cups of hot water. Cook covered over low heat until all the water is absorbed.
Meanwhile, grease a round cake tray, with 20-25 centimeters diameter, with two tea spoons of margarine. Cover the tray with the phyllo sheet. As the phyllo sheet is big (about 60 centimeters diameter), part of it will be out of the tray. When the rice is cooked, let it cool down a little and stir it carefully with a fork. Place the rice on the phyllo pastry sheet. Then cover it with the parts of the phyllo pastry sheet that were out of the tray and brush with two table spoons of olive oil. Bake on a 175º pre-heated oven for 30-35 minutes. During this time both resistances of the oven (up and down) must be connected. Place the rice on a serving plate and serve hot.

Börek with Ground Meat (Domates Sulu Kıymalı Börek)

50 ml olive oil * 200 g ground meat * 1 onion * 100 g parsley * 2 cups tomato juice * 50 ml water * 3 sheets philo pastry * salt * black pepper

Sauté the minced onion with the ground meat. Add the minced parsley, the salt and the black pepper and mix. Let it cool down and put aside. Mix the tomato juice with the water and the olive oil. Place one of the philo pastries in a greased oven tray. As the philo pastry is bigger than the oven tray, the sides will be out of the oven tray. Cover it with the tomato mixture. Cut the second philo pastry in two pieces with the same size and use one of the pieces to cover the first philo pastry. Place the ground meat on it and then cover with the other half. Again, make it wet with the tomato mixture. Cover with the third philo pastry. You must make it fit totally inside the oven tray by making small hills. Close the börek with the sides of the first philo pastry. Put the rest of the tomato sauce on the top and bake on a 180º preheated oven until it becomes a little crusty.