Crispy, crunchy and spicy filled: This turkish borek with cheese and spinach tastes amazing!
The little rolls make a hearty snack, appetizer or dinner. And with my simple turkish borek recipe using ready-made yufka dough, they're also straightforward to prepare. A great alternative to "German" puff pastries with spinach and feta!
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Taste and Occasion
If you have little idea of turkish borek with spinach and cheese, think visually of spring rolls and tastefully of savory dumplings 😉 . Turkish borek is available both as a strudel or casserole and in "cigar form". The latter is what this borek recipe is all about. The rolls can be eaten wonderfully out of hand and served as finger food.
One of the classics is just borek with spinach and/or feta cheese. Either as borek with fresh spinach or with defrosted frozen spinach. Minced meat or pre-cooked potatoes fit also.
Ingredients
The foundation is always yufka dough or filo dough. These are very thin sheets of dough (usually triangular) made out of flour, water and a little salt. I read that yufka literally means "fragile" or "brittle" - which definitely applies to the dough 😉 .
You can make the dough yourself or, definitely more convenient, buy it. It is available, for example, in the vast majority of Turkish stores and partly in normal supermarkets. To the shell, then comes the filling. For this, there are many delicious possibilities, like spinach and feta cheese!
How to make the Turkish Borek with Spinach & Cheese
Let's get started with this delicious borek recipe!
First things first: For the filling, crumble the feta cheese into a small bowl and mash with a fork. Add yogurt and finely chopped herbs. Then, chop the onion and garlic. Sauté in a bit of oil. Add spinach and let it collapse (if fresh) or thaw (if frozen). Now, pour off or drain excess liquid. Add feta mixture and season everything with salt and pepper.
Now it's time to preheat the oven to 400°F/200°C. Cover a baking sheet with baking paper. After this, take the dough triangles out of the package one by one. Place each in front of you so that the tip is facing up and brush with a little water, oil or yogurt.
Spread about 1-2 tablespoons of filling on the long bottom side of each leaf. Fold in the side ends, so nothing spills out, and roll up dough tightly. You want to make long cigar rolls. Space the rolls apart on a baking sheet.
Finally, brush with a mixture of beaten egg yolk and milk, sprinkle with sesame seeds and bake for about 15 minutes until golden brown and serve while still warm. Yummy!
Top Tip
Who wants to process for the first time Yufka dough or make borek yourself should keep the meaning of the word in mind 😉 . The dough is indeed paper-thin, delicate and dries out quickly. I always coat it with a bit of water, yogurt, or oil before using it and take one sheet at a time out of the package. The dough triangle is placed, tip-up, on the work surface. About a spoonful of filling hits bottom long side of the dough. Then fold the corners over the sides of the filling so that nothing spills out, and roll everything up tightly.
Recipe Card
Turkish Borek with Spinach and Cheese
Ingredients
As a foundation
- 12 sheets yufka dough , or filo dough
For the filling
- 150 grams (1 cups) feta cheese
- 2 tablespoons natural yogurt
- herbs, e.g. thyme, parsley
- salt
- pepper
- 150 grams (5 cups) spinach, fresh or frozen
- 1 onion, small
- 1 clove garlic
To coat
- 1 egg yolk, medium
- 1 teaspoon milk
- 1 tablespoon sesame seeds
Instructions
- For the filling, crumble the feta cheese into a small bowl and mash with a fork. Add yogurt and finely chopped herbs.
- Chop the onion and garlic. Sauté in a bit of oil. Add spinach and let it collapse (if fresh) or thaw (if frozen). Pour off or drain excess liquid. Add feta mixture and season everything with salt and pepper.
- Preheat oven to 400°F/200°C. Cover a baking sheet with baking paper. Take the dough triangles out of the package one by one. Place each in front of you so that the tip is facing up and brush with a little water, oil or yogurt. Spread about 1-2 tablespoons of filling on the long bottom side of each leaf. Fold in the side ends, so nothing spills out, and roll up dough tightly. You want to make long cigar rolls.
- Space rolls apart on a baking sheet. Brush with a mixture of beaten egg yolk and milk. Sprinkle with sesame seeds. Bake for about 15 minutes until golden brown and serve while still warm.
Ingredient substitutions
Variations
There are two alternatives for finishing: Either you deep fry the cigars. Or, like me, you make the börek with cheese in the oven. For this, you brush the rolls with beaten egg yolk or a little oil. I usually sprinkle the spinach börek with poppy seeds and sesame seeds. It looks easier and prettier 🙂 .
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