Borek

Main:
454 gr (1 lb) Phyllo Pastry
50 ml extra virgin olive oil
2/3 cup milk
1/2 cup water
2 eggs
1 tsp salt
3L (13x9x2") pyrex casserole dish
For this recipe, choose one of the following fillings:
Spinach Filling (pictured above):
1 pkg (300 gr) frozen chopped spinach
1/4 cup crumbled feta
1 onion, chopped
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Salt
Black pepper
Beef Filling:
250 gr medium ground beef
1 onion, sliced
2 tomatoes, diced
1 small cubanelle pepper, chopped
Salt
Black pepper
For Spinach Filling: Put the salt, pepper, olive oil and onion in a pan. Cook on medium heat for two minutes. Add the spinach and continue cooking until all liquid has evaporated. Put aside and add the feta cheese.
For Beef Filling: Put the salt, black pepper, ground beef and onion in a pan. Cook on medium heat until the beef is done. Add the tomatoes and the pepper. Continue cooking for another 5 minutes. Put aside.
Now we can move on to the main ingredients. In a bowl, mix the eggs, olive oil, milk and water with a whisk. This liquid mix will go between every two layers of the pastry, and will complement your choice of filling. The spinach or beef filling will go in the middle only.
Grease the casserole dish. Place two sheets of the pastry in the bottom and over the sides of the dish. Spread 2-3 tablespoons of the liquid mix on top (picture). Take another two sheets of pastry, fold in half, and stack in the dish. Continue layering until halfway through the pastry (picture). Then, spread all of your main filling onto the stack (picture). Resume layering the pastry and the liquid mix until the pastry is finished. Then, fold the sides of the bottom layer over. Make sure you pour the remaining mix on top to prevent burning in the oven (picture).
Leave the casserole dish in the fridge for 2-3 hours, this way it will be more crispy and tasty. Pre-heat the oven to 175 C (350 F). Bake until golden brown, for approximately 45 minutes (picture).
This recipe goes well with cherries on the side or Ayran. You can have it as a main dish (4 servings) or with afternoon tea as a snack.



57 Comments:
hello, whoever is out there and did this website thanks. i'm currently doing food technology and it realyyyyyy helped me
thank you so much
bye
my email is: hobasaleh2@hotmail.com
Hello,
I am glad I helped you out :)
This is so excellent!!! I am so happy to find a good borek recipe!! I lived in Turkey as a kid and this was one of my FAVORITE foods. It's so great to be able to make it! I made it for my friends the other night and they loved it too. Thank you so much to the person who made this site! I have bookmarked it!
You are very welcome:)
It is so true that kids love any kind of borek, including my children:)
I am so glad to know that Turkish food has left good memories in your childhood.
If you have other favorite dishes, let me know. I would love to post them for you:)
My husband grew up in turkey and loved this as a child as well, I'm so happy i am able to look and make all the wonderful turkish food for him and our daughter.So now she no's her background cuisine. I love making turkish food every recipe is a new challange,if you have anymore great recipes i'd love to have them.
aleyna005@hotmail.com
Thank you for this recipe which is exactly like the borek my aunt Taynur in Instanbul makes. I'm going to make it for a buffet party....I know my geusts will love it like I do!Thanks for putting out this authentic recipe.
Hi, I lived in Turkey as a kid too, in the early '60s. I have been making my own version of borek for years, but this looks just as good. I make mine with real feta that has been soaked to get out some of the saltiness, and lots of parsley. So good to have that "old country" taste. If anyone has a recipe for the good old authentic Turkish sourdough bread, please share it!
Hi, I Was Just Wondering Whether Or Not Anyone Has Any Recipes For Lamb Borek (Kiymali Börek)?
Binnur,
My mom gave me a tip which works and that is using yogurt instead of milk and water. Still stays moist and tastes great.
Too bad we can't get fresh pastry ( and no I'm not about to pull out the oklava to make it).
Aydin
Aydin.
Thank you sharing you mum's knowledge, I will absolutely try it next
time:) Sometimes I can find yufka at Turkish grocery stores but they
are not fresh:( I don't have oklava here but I should buy one during
my next trip to Turkey...
Sevgilerimle,
Thanks I have just returned from Kyrenia where i loved the cheese borek (Im veggie) Looking through found this site and am going to try the meat version for family at the wekend. Will let you know how it goes Thanks again!
Hi Binnur,
I was trying to refresh my memory about whether to include an egg with the cheese as well as the sauce so I checked your recipe. This looks great. The way I make the sauce was taught to me by one of my friends mom's many years ago and it is to use a small 6 oz cup of plain, non-fat yogurt and about 1 1/4cups of low fat milk and I use melted butter instead of olive oil along with one egg. The dry yufka that I find online is less than ideal compared to what they have in Turkey but as you suggest if you let it sit in the fridge for a while before baking, that seems to help the liquids soak into the yufka. I'm going to make this today for my son who is making his first trip home from college and I know he loves borek.
Do you have a good recipe for bulgur pilavi? I've had varying success with the recipes I've found.
Thanks,
Suzan
I buy borek in a food take-away in Brisbane, and I adore it. I prefer the cheese one, but I also like lamb, too. If the pastry in this recipe tastes like the one I buy, I'll love you forever! I will bookmark this site, and return to look at other great recipes. Thank you so much.
I cant believe i have finally found a brilliant receipe for Borek. ;)
My husband is turkish and we have been living in England for 2years and borek is his favourite turkish food. I tried to make my own Borek about 18months ago but it was a disaster as i had no receipe to follow!
I cant wait to make him some as a suprise. ;)
THANKYOU
Hi Suzan,
I also use yogurt for the sauce, it gives very good taste when I use
Turkish yufka to make any kind of borek. But I prefer milk instead of
yogurt if I use phyllo pastry. I will post vegetable borek soon for
which I always use yogurt+milk mixture. Originally we used butter
instead of olive oil in borek. I very often bake borek for my family
that's why I prefer olive oil:)
I love to eat leftover borek while still cold. It is very crunchy, it
may be another reason to bake it with olive oil for me:)
My son is also a freshman and he will come home this weekend too...:)
I posted the Bulgur Pilav recipe, I hope you will try it:)
http://www.turkishcookbook.com/2005/08/bulgur-pilaf.php
My instincts say you will love me forever:) I recently posted Water
Borek. I don't know if you tried it or not, it is very yummy... I will
post another style of borek with ground beef soon...
Merhaba. Having just returned from a fantastic visit to Istanbul, I am so happy to find a borek recipe so I can share this culinary delight with my family. There are no borek salons near my home, but now I can have one in my own kitchen. Tessekular.
Hi Binnur,
I'm from Kosovo, currently living in USA, and as you may know there we use a lot of turkish dishes. I do love burek so much, and I haven't had any in two years. (well, at least a good one) I've tried to make some (from other recipies) with phyllo pastry, but it doesn't turn out as good. I would prefer to make the dough myself, but I don't have a recipe. Do you have any suggestions, or should I just use salt and flour? Please let me know.
Thank you for this wonderful website.
Hi Edita,
I love Borek too, it is so delicious:) But I use Turkish yufka or phyllo pastry, they work very well for me:) If you want to make your own yufka, that's great!
1 kg flour + 1/3 cup sunflower oil + salt + warm water. Knead them to
make a smooth dough. Cover it with a damp towel for 10-15 minutes.
Then divide them into 4 or 5 balls. Use a roller pin to make nice thin
yufka. Then it'll be ready to make Borek, Afiyet olsun!
hello binnur!
i was so excited when i saw your recipe for spinach borek! i have made it 2 times since finding your recipe and it turned out great. i made a few changes like soaking the feta in milk to get the extra salt out and using butter and margarine instead of the olive oil haha naughty me! it just tastes soo good! my uncle is bulgarian and he used to make that for family gatherings and i loved it! and this recipe tastes pretty much like his! yum! thanks for sharing the recipe!
love molly
Hi Molly,
Thank you:) Sure, it's fun to change some ingredients, yogurt instead of milk or butter instead of olive oil (most of my family members still use butter!) both ways it is still very tasty:) If the feta cheese contains too much salt, soak it in the plain water, it'll be cheaper this way:)
Best wishes to you:)
Hi binnur,
I have been looking for a borek recipe for a while now, so Im thrilled that I found one! Thanks!
I lived with a Turkish family in Germany and I tried a sweet borek once. I loved it. Do you know any recipes for this? I remember it had eggs, milk and sugar, but I can't remember the rest. Thank you! Maggie
Hi Maggie,
Thank you:) I need to know the main ingredient of sweet borek. Is it made with yufka or dough? Could you give me more information please:) Then I should be able to help you out..
Binnur,
Thanks for the reply. It was made with phyllo dough. (and honestly Im not even sure that it's borek Im thinking of), I just looked until a found the picture with this recipe and I know that it looks very similar to this one. It's sweet and the middle is like a creamy custard. (The lady who made this for me said that it is a specialty from her home town/area of NE Turkey by the Black Sea)
Thank you so much! Maggie
Hello, I am 13 and love turkish food. I just wanted to know if you could post me some good turkish recipes. I love borek. So if you can just post me so of the best turkish recipes you have...that would be great.
Thanks, Sam
sam_grange@hotmail.com
Hi Maggie,
Thank you for the explanation, now I know what you are asking. It is
called "Laz Boregi" which belongs to the Black Sea Region:) It is made
with phyllo dough (yufka) and Muhallebi (Pudding) in the middle. I'll post it in the future for you.
Take care,
Hi Sam,
I just started to post Turkish recipes:) There is so many more...but I will continue posting them once or twice a week. I'll post more borek
recipes (see the pastries section for several I already put up) and
the other wonderful and best Turkish dishes for you:)
Take care,
Merhaba Binnur Hanim,
I tried the borek recipie with spinach filling yesterday. It was my first experience with pastry baking and I was very nervous about the outcome. Fortunately, it turned out to be a great success, which both myself and my husband enjoyed very much. Since I am also living in Canada, I was lucky enough to find the ingredients (pastry, frozen spinach) with the exact dimensions, weights you described :) Thanks and have a great day!
Ayse Sule
Merhaba Ayse,
I am glad you and your husband enjoyed Borek:) All the ingredients I
give in all my recipes are very easy to find at local supermarkets in
North America. If you have any questions about anything please don't
hesitate to ask,
Take care:)
Hi Binnur, I was just wondering can you use the same dough as you used in your gozleme recipe instead of buying ready made phyllo pastry?
Sure, you can, it is the same dough:) Adjust the measurement if you like...
Hi Binnur,
I tried the spinach borek recipe and it is outstanding! I just love the texture so much. I had it in Istanbul, but haven't had it in years because there are no restaurants anywhere near me that serve borek (I live in Iowa). so I'm very thankful that you've taken the time to put these Turkish recipes on the internet! Tessekur ederim! Alison
Hi Alison,
I am glad that you love Borek:) I also posted some different kind of borek recipes and I will post more...I hope you will enjoy them all too:)
Sevgilerimle,
If using the yufka instead of the Phyllo, is it layered the same way or differently??
Thanks
Hi,
The layering is the same for both:) But you should use only three Turkish yufka. Use first yufka for the first layer, leave it hanging over the rim of the Pyrex. Divide the other yufkas each in two and layer. Spread the sauce between the layers. Don't forget to put the filling in the middle:) Then fold over the sides of the bottom layer. Pour the rest of the sauce over the surface.
Beautiful photos, recipes and food looks wonderful.
Many years ago while visiting Istanbul, I had a borek , more doughy not overly flaky, not phyllo -filled with a soft white cheese, maybe in a roll or sqaure. Would love such a recipe!
Thanks
Hi Joan,
Thank you:) I think what you are asking is Su Boregi (Water Borek). I've already posted, here is the address;
http://www.turkishcookbook.com/2006/11/water-borek.phpHi Joan,
Merhaba Binnur,
Tarifler icin tesekkurler. I am wondering if you have a good recipe for bazlama and the meat (kiymali) filling. My husband and I love this dish and would like to make it at home sometime, but we can't get the meat flavored correctly. Thanks!
Merhaba Delikiz,
We all love pastry recipes don't we:) I mostly bake plain bazlama but for you I am going to post it with the filling in the future.
Binnur,
Tesekkurler...Bekliyorum. :)
I made the spinach borek and it was not flaky and was soggy in the middle, almost like a custard. Followed directions exactly. What was I doing wrong?
Hi Marty,
With this sauce that between the sheets, Borek is not supposed to be flaky...it is not dry or fried. Just the top side should be crunchy. If the spinach has too much water, it can be soggy. Also less amount of Phyllo Pastry sheets and too much sauce can make Borek soggy.
hiya, after 3yrs of tryin to make borek right i finally made a leek,egg and feta cheese one, two days ago and it was perfect. after finding your recipes i can now make my favourite meat one. thanks
I was in Turkey recently and i fell in love with borek! I even bought the borek pastry and brought it home with me! But now that i ran out of it, i'm not sure how to make borek... because the typical pastry it's not phillo pastry. Do you think using phillo pastry won't affect the dish?
Hi,
Sometimes it is difficult to find Turkish Yufka so I use phillo pastry to make Borek. If the taste would be bad I wouldn't post the recipe with phillo pastry, it is absolutely delicious, give it a try:)
This website is amazing!! Thank you Binnur. The pictures were really useful and the borek was amasing !! many thanks x x
May God bless you and your loved ones. I moved to US from Turkey 3 years ago. I finally tasted food that made me feel back home.
I can not thank you enough. Allah senden binbir kere razi olsun.
Dona, I am so touched...thank you, god bless you too.You made me very happy:)
Take care, sevgilerimle,
Wow, wow, wow... I made the spinach börek for my Turkish husband this evening. After the meal he gave me a big kiss on the forehead, and told me that I am an even better Turkish cook than any of his sisters. This made me really happy as they are excellent cooks (living in Turkey) and I am Danish.
Thanks for providing this wonderful recipe.
Senden çok şeyler ögreniyorum.
Saygılar,
Sidse
Sevgili Sidse,
Thank you:D I am so happy for you...you are an excellent cook:) I think your husband also liked Kuru Fasulye:)
En icten sevgilerimi yolluyorum:)
I love thıs websıte and Im so pleased I came across ıt. Im Englısh and am fortunate enough to lıve ın Turkey. I can cook a few turkısh dıshes but have been lımıted as we dıdnt have an oven tıll recently. I made börek for the fırst tıme last nıght and ıt was dıvıne! Thank you so much. My hubby now has a lıst as long as hıs arm that he wants me to cook
merhaba binnur'cum - i am going to make ispanakli borek, but i'd like to use fresh spinach instead of frozen. how should i prepare it, and how much should i use for your recipe?
Merhaba Suzancigim,
A bunch of fresh spinach would be enough. Cut of the roots, wash and chopped. The rest is the same:)
i just made this and it is delicious!!! thanks for the recepie and lovely website
sofia
Just wanted to let you know, I made this tonight and it was SOOO delicious!! It came out just right and I can't wait to try your other recipes!!
Hi:
It's not easy to find Phyllo sheets here, instead of using Phyllo sheets, can i use wonton wraps or spring roll pastry??? its much easier to find them in the market. but im wondering will it taste similar??? thanks...
Hi Tricia,
You can make Water Borek (Su Boregi) using Egg roll Wraps :) Here is the address;
http://www.turkishcookbook.com/2006/11/water-borek.php
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