recipetineats5.0
Borek
Recipe video above. If you think this Borek looks amazing, just wait until you taste it!! A spiced lamb filling littered with pine nuts and currants encased in layers up on layers of flaky filo pastry arranged in a dramatic spiral, this pastry goes by various names incuding burek, bourekas, and byrek.It's an excellent return on effort, looking so much more difficult than it actually is to make!Vegetarian version - Use the spinach feta filling from Spanakopita!
👥 5 Servings⏱️ Prep & Cook: 1h 30m⏳ Prep: 30 min🔥 Cook: 1h👤 Nagi📖 recipetineats
🥘 Ingredients
Check off ingredients as you prepare them:
🍳 Cookware
- ●skillet
- ●stove
- ●bowl
- ●oven
- ●knife
📝 Preparation Steps
1
Lamb filling:
2
Cook onion and garlic: Heat oil on high in a large skillet. Cook onion and garlic for 2 to ⏱️ 3 minutes until softened.
onion (, finely diced (1 small or 1/2 a large))1
3
Cook lamb and spices: Add lamb and cook lamb, breaking it up as you go, until mostly changes from pink to brown. Then add all the spices and cook for ⏱️ 1 minute.
4
Simmer: Add tomato passata and water, mix. Then add currants and pine nuts. Bring to simmer, turn heat down to medium low and cook until liquid reduces so the mixture is moist but not watery.
tomato passata (tomato puree in US, Note 2)1 cup
5
Cool: Remove from stove and allow to fully cool before using.
6
Lemon Yogurt Sauce:
7
Mix ingredients in a small bowl. Set aside for at least ⏱️ 20 minutes.
8
Rolling tubes:
9
Preheat oven to 200°C / 390°F (180°C fan).
10
Yogurt Wash (Note 4): Mix ingredients until combined.
11
Prepare filo: Open the filo pastry packet and unroll the pastry. Peel one layer off and place on a piece of baking / parchment paper. Cover the remainder with a lightweight damp tea towel to stop them from drying out.
12
Brush with yogurt wash: Drizzle / flick yogurt wash across filo using a pastry brush. Then lightly brush across surface in a thin layer. You don't need to cover every inch, just mostly cover the surface.
13
Layer filo: Top with another filo pastry sheet, and brush this too with yogurt wash. Then repeat so you have 4 layers in total, but do not brush the last (4th) filo with yogurt wash once laid.
14
Fill and roll: Place 1/3 of the Lamb filling along the bottom edge. Using the aid of a long kitchen knife to get it started, roll up into a log. Doesn't need to be tight and don't try, as the pastry is delicate.
15
Make 3 logs: Repeat to make 3 logs, using all the Filling.
16
Shape into spiral and bake:
17
Spiral: Take one log and place on a piece of baking / parchment paper. Coil into a spiral. Join a second log to the first by stuffing the ends inside each other, using yogurt wash to adhere. Continue forming the spiral. Log sides should be in contact but not tightly squished.
18
Transfer to baking vessel: Brush a 26cm / 10.5″ cast iron skillet (Note 5) with melted butter. Then use the paper to transfer the borek into the skillet, and slide the paper out.
19
Brush with butter: Brush the top with butter, sprinkle with sesame seeds.
20
Bake for ⏱️ 40 minutes or until pastry is golden.
21
Serve! Remove from oven. Cut wedges like pie. Serve with Lemon Yogurt Sauce!
Nutrition Facts
calories
704 kcal
fat Content
51 g
serving Size
1 serving
fiber Content
3 g
sugar Content
12 g
sodium Content
920 mg
protein Content
27 g
trans Fat Content
1 g
cholesterol Content
115 mg
carbohydrate Content
36 g
saturated Fat Content
19 g
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