These are a tasty snack based on a Turkish recipe. They are made with sheets of filo pastry wrapped around a filling of spinach, onion, herbs, garlic, feta cheese bound together with yogurt and egg. The recipe is easy to adapt and you can other ingredients like lentils, mushrooms or tomatoes.
Ingredients
Filling
2 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 tsp ground cumin
seasoning
200g spinach, chard or cooked kale, chopped. If using chard chop the stalks finely.
2 tbsp chopped parsley
2 tbsp lemon juice
200g feta cheese, mashed with a fork
Egg and yogurt wash
2 small free range eggs
200 ml Greek yogurt
4 tbsp olive oil
To assesmble the börek
5 sheets filo pastry
sesame seeds
Method
Preheat the oven to 200°C. Line a large baking sheet with baking parchment or a non stick liner
Heat the oil in a large frying pan on medium-low heat and add the chopped onion, garlic and cumin. Cook for five minutes or until soft. Add the spinach/chard to the pan along with parsley. Sauté for a few more minutes. Remove from the heat, alllow to cool a little and then stir through the lemon juice and mashed feta. Season with a little salt and black pepper.
Mix the eggs with the yogurt and olive oil and whisk together. Add three quarters of the egg and yogurt mixture to the spinach filling and mix well.
To assemble the börek cut the filo pastry sheets into 20 cm x 25 cm / 8 inch x 10 inch rectangles and place on a clean work surface. Spread approximately 2 tablespoons of filling, in a line, along the short end of one of the pieces of filo. Fold in the edges and then roll the sheet into a log. Repeat with the rest of the filo sheets and filling. Transfer each börek to the baking sheet. Brush the top of each with a generous amount of the remaining egg and yogurt mixture, scatter with sesame seeds. Transfer the baking sheet to the hot oven and bake for 20 minute or until the börek are golden brown and crunchy. Remove from the oven, place on a rack and allow to cool.