Little Börek From Delicatessen
Istanbul Cult Recipes
Posted by Murdoch Books
About
Delicatessen yufka böreği
A chic little appetiser served at Delicatessen in the Pera district. You can also make these as cigars, by rolling the spinach filling in a sheet of buttered yufka, brushing with egg yolk and cutting into lengths, decorated with sesame seeds.
Preparation time: 30 minutes
Cooking time: 35 minutes
Serves 2–4 (8 small börek)
Share
You Will Need (9 things)
- 10 g (1/4 oz) Butter , plus 20 g (3/4 oz) extra, melted, for brushing
- 1 tbsp Olive Oil
- 1 Onion , grated
- 1 Garlic clove, grated
- 300 g (101/2 oz/6 cups) baby English Spinach leaves
- 4 Rectangular super-thin yufka pastry sheets or Filo Pastry sheets
- 8 Chives
- 1 Egg Yolk , beaten
- Black Sesame Seeds , to decorate
Steps (1 step, 30 minutes)
-
1
Melt the 10 g (1/4 oz) butter in a small frying pan with the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic, and sauté for about 5 minutes until soft. Add the baby spinach and continue cooking for about 10 minutes. Using a sieve, gently squeeze out the moisture from the spinach. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper, and allow the mixture to cool. Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F). Quickly butter a sheet of the pastry with some of the extra melted butter. Place another sheet on top, butter it as well and cut – carefully, as it is fragile – into four rectangles. Place a tablespoon of the spinach mixture in the centre of each rectangle, gather up the four corners of each into a bundle and tie closed with a chive. Do the same for the rest of the rectangles, then with two other yufka sheets, which are buttered, laid on top of each other and cut into four like the previous ones. Brush the eight parcels with egg yolk, and scatter with sesame seeds. Transfer to a greased baking tray, and bake in the oven for 20 minutes.