Börek (Turkish Filled Pastries)
Photo: Mike Hayes (talk) 18:25, 2 July 2011 (UTC), Public domain
Börek is a Turkish pastry made by wrapping a savory filling in thin yufka or phyllo, and this version folds it into small triangles. The filling is your choice: white cheese, minced meat, chicken or spinach. Each strip of dough is brushed with butter and folded like a flag, so the finished pastry has crisp, flaky layers. You can fry or bake them, and unbaked triangles freeze well for later.
Instructions
Take the phyllo sheets out of the box and unfold them gently so they do not tear. Lay them flat and cover them with a clean, damp tea towel, which keeps them from drying out and cracking.
Working quickly, cut the stack into three lengthwise strips. Lay one strip out and keep the other two under the damp towel.
Brush the strip with melted butter. Put a heaped teaspoon of filling on one end of the strip.
Fold one lower corner up over the filling to make a triangle. Then fold the upper corner of that triangle over to the other side, and keep folding the triangle along the strip in the same way until you reach the end.
Trim off any extra dough. Seal the end by rubbing a damp finger over the dough and pressing the last edge against the triangle.
Cook the börek by frying in oil at 340°F until golden brown, or bake them at 350°F for 15 minutes. If you have wrapped them ahead and frozen them uncooked, bake from frozen at 325°F for 30 minutes and do not deep-fry them, because frozen food makes hot oil spit.
Make it personal.
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