finished feta zucchini borek

For the Macedonian party we had the other day I made borek. This classic dish also goes by börek or burek depending on the nationality of origin. Aleks introduced me to it the last time we went over for BBQ at his place and I fell in love with it. It was lightly pan fried and had a filling made with feta cheese, leek and spinach…scrumptious flavors! Borek and spanakopita are sort of similar in the way they are made. Aleks told me borek normally requires a filo pastry that is a littler thicker than the filo we find in shops here. I tried to buy the thick one but could not find it. I ended up using the regular filo dough in my borek recipe. It worked out pretty well. Filo dough is very fragile and dries out fast once the package has been opened. So do follow the instructions on the box regarding handling those sheets!

For this recipe I use about 30 sheets. That corresponds to about one box. You may lose some of them during the borek assembly process due to tearing or breakage. That’s o.k. By the way did I mention that this is super labor intensive? It is! Also I needed an assistant for the actual stuffing and rolling of the borek because it was very messy.

Feta Zucchini Borek

Ingredients:

1 box of filo sheets brought to room temperature
4 grated zucchinis or about 5-6 cups
1/3 cup of chopped fresh dill
2/3 cup good feta cheese in crumbles
1 tbsp Hungarian paprika
A good pinch of cayenne pepper (depending on how spicy you like it)
Red pepper flakes to taste
½ tbsp freshly ground black pepper
½ tbsp Kosher salt
1 whole egg, plus 1 egg white lightly beaten
½ cup low fat plain yogurt
4 tbsp olive oil

brushing yogurt dressing over borek prior to baking

How to:
Add to a bowl grated zucchini, dill, feta cheese, paprika, cayenne, red pepper flakes, black pepper and salt. Mix with a spatula till incorporated. Taste and adjust flavors if necessary. Add egg. Mix again. Let mixture rest for approximately 20 minutes at room temperature. Transfer zucchini mixture to a strainer and squish out as much juice as you can. Reserve about ½ to ¾ cups of extracted zucchini juice. To the reserved juice, mix in yogurt and olive oil.

Pre-heat the oven to 375F. Grease a large cookie tray with olive oil.

To make the borek, think as if you were about to roll a big cigar. Lay 1 filo sheet on your kitchen counter, longer side facing you. Quickly brush it with yogurt mixture. Lay another filo sheet on top of the first. Brush it again with more of the yogurt mixture. Place a small amount of the zucchini filling on one long end of the brushed filo (you should have about 7 portions) Roll it into a long tube or cigar. Transfer the cigar to your cookie tray and roll it in such a way to take a shape of an electrical coil. Repeat the process another until you run out of filling. For each additional roll, wrap it around the center, first one to make a large wheel shape. After the borek is completely formed, pour/brush the remaining yougurt mixture over the top. Drizzle a little more olive oil over the finished pie.

Bake until golden brown, about 45 to 55 minutes. Remove from oven. Let it cool. Transfer to a serving platter, cut and serve.

Our friend Daniel liked it so much that he said he could eat this borek for breakfast, lunch and dinner without ever getting tired of it. I take it as a compliment! Cheers.

serving borek family style

recovering from making the feta zucchini borek

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Charles de Gaulle – “The better I get to know men, the more I find myself loving dogs.”