Bourekas
Israel's bakery-cabinet pastry: puff-pastry triangles filled with feta-and-ricotta, spinach, potato or mushroom. Sprinkled with sesame and nigella.
Overview
Ready-rolled all-butter puff pastry cuts into 12 squares (about 12 × 12 cm). Cheese filling: feta + ricotta + egg + parsley + nutmeg + pepper, mashed to a thick paste. Filling spoons onto each square; corners fold across to a triangle; edges crimp with a fork. Brushes with egg wash; sprinkles with sesame and nigella seeds. Bakes for 25 minutes at 200°C till deep gold and puffed.
Ingredients
Pastry
- 500 g all-butter puff pastry (2 ready-rolled sheets, or block rolled out)
Cheese filling
- 250 g feta cheese (crumbled fine)
- 150 g ricotta cheese (drained if very wet)
- 30 g grated kashkaval, parmesan (or kefalotyri, any hard salty cheese)
- 1 egg (large)
- 2 tablespoons fresh flat-leaf parsley (chopped)
- ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- (no extra salt - feta is salty enough)
Glaze
- 1 egg yolk (beaten with 1 tablespoon milk)
- 2 tablespoons sesame seeds
- 1 tablespoon nigella seeds (kalonji)
Method
Stage 1 - Filling
- In a wide bowl, mash the feta with a fork until uniformly fine.
- Add ricotta, grated hard cheese, egg, parsley, nutmeg and pepper.
- Mix to a thick paste. The filling should hold a scoop without sliding.
Stage 2 - Cut pastry
- Heat the oven to 200°C (180°C fan).
- Roll out the puff pastry (or use ready-rolled) on a lightly floured surface.
- Cut into twelve 12 × 12 cm squares.
Stage 3 - Fill
- Place 1 heaped tablespoon of filling in the centre of each square.
- Brush the edges with egg wash.
- Lift two opposite corners up over the filling, meeting them at the top.
- Press to seal - you should have a triangle with the filling enclosed.
- Crimp the cut edges with a fork or pinch them firmly.
Stage 4 - Glaze
- Place the bourekas on parchment-lined baking trays, spaced 3 cm apart.
- Brush the tops generously with the egg-yolk wash.
- Sprinkle sesame and nigella seeds.
Stage 5 - Bake
- Bake 22-25 minutes till deep golden and puffed.
- The filling will hint at oozing through the edges - that's correct.
Stage 6 - Serve
- Cool 3 minutes (the filling is molten).
- Eat hot - traditionally with a hard-boiled egg, pickles, and a cup of strong black coffee for the Israeli breakfast.
Notes
- Puff pastry, not filo: Israeli bourekas use puff pastry (the descendants of yufka / Turkish börek doughs). Filo is more typical for Greek tyropita. Both are valid; this is the Israeli version.
- Drain wet ricotta: if your ricotta is very wet, sit it in a sieve 30 minutes before mixing. Wet filling makes soggy bourekas.
- Seal firmly: loose seams release cheese into the oven. Crimp with a fork.
- Sesame + nigella: the iconic Israeli boureka topping. Not optional if you want them to look right.
Storage
- Best within an hour of baking.
- Keep 1 day at room temp; reheat in a 180°C oven 6 minutes.
- Freeze unbaked, on a tray then bagged, 2 months. Bake from frozen at 200°C 28 minutes.
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