During my travels in Turkey I ate a lot of burek, and I sampled many variations across Eastern Europe as well. Whether filled with meat, cheese or vegetables, I rarely came away disappointed. I’m as happy with the flaky pastry as I am with the filling.
In Turkey I noticed a particular variety I hadn’t seen before: cigara burek, or cigar-shaped burek. The name caught my attention, and when the owner of our guest house in Göreme mentioned that his father makes cheese-filled cigar burek for breakfast, we immediately asked to try them. They were irresistible.
Traditional burek fillings use a cheese similar to cottage cheese rather than a sharp cheddar, and that creamy tang works beautifully in this pastry. Back in Amsterdam, with access to my own kitchen, I decided to recreate those cigars and add spinach for extra flavor and color. While Turkish shops sometimes use a special type of phyllo, the supermarket filo worked perfectly well at home.
These spinach and cheese cigar burek aren’t an exact replica of the ones we ate in Göreme, but they’re a very close and delicious approximation. They make a great appetizer or a party finger food; if the word “burek” sounds unfamiliar to guests, calling them spring rolls usually makes them more approachable.
Spinach and Cheese Cigar Burek
Recipe by Julia
8
servings
30
minutes
20
minutes
Ingredients
-
One small pack filo pastry (around 8 sheets or 1/2 pound in weight – defrosted if frozen)
-
3/4 cup feta cheese, crumbled
-
1 cup baby spinach
-
2 eggs, beaten, plus one extra beaten egg for glaze
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 180C / 350F.
- In a large bowl, stir together the crumbled feta, chopped spinach and two beaten eggs until evenly combined.
- Lay a sheet of filo pastry flat on your work surface. Keep the remaining sheets covered with a damp towel so they don’t dry out. Dip a pastry brush into the extra beaten egg and lightly brush two opposite diagonal corners of the pastry sheet (for example, top right and bottom left).
- Spoon a portion of the cheese and spinach mixture diagonally onto the pastry sheet, slightly off center.
- Fold the two dry corners over the filling, then fold the egg-washed corner over them so the pastry looks like an open envelope. Roll from that side toward the other end to form a cigar shape, and press the second egg-washed corner to seal.
- Repeat with the remaining sheets and filling.
- Place the filled burek on a baking tray, brush each with a little beaten egg, and bake for 20–25 minutes at 180C / 350F, until golden and crisp. Allow to cool slightly before serving.