Month: February 2016

Borek stuffed with Feta and Spinach

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I have always loved Borek or spanokopita – which is essentially a pastry with phyllo dough and stuffed with different fillings.

This past week I was in Los Angeles and my cousin’s daughter in law taught me how to make Borek.  She is Turkish and so I was excited to learn from her.

 

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It’s really quite simple.

For the filling:

Sautee spinach (chopped and frozen is best for this) in olive oil with chopped onions.  You can add some garlic and I like to add a whole bunch of dill once the spinach is cooked and cooled.

Next add crumbled feta and mix well.  Taste and season with salt and pepper.

Now lay out two sheets of phyllo – if you find the thick kind – it’ll make your life a lot easier.

Cover the sheets you are not using with a damp kitchen towel.

Brush generously with melted butter.

 

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Now add the spinach and feta mixture to the lower end of the buttered phyllo as shown in the picture.

Now roll this up like a cigar.

In a buttered dish start to make spirals of the filled phyllo.

This was a revelation for me and I was so excited to learn this technique.

Imagine the possibilities of the types of fillings.

My mind was full of ideas of the ways I could make use of this with different sizes 0 individual borek would be nice.

Preheat over to 350 degrees and brush the whole borek liberally with butter and bake for about 30 minutes or until the pastry is nice and brown.

We held it in a 150 degree oven till we were ready to serve it and it was crispy and delicious.

To serve, cut into small pieces and enjoy.

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Don’t be afraid of phyllo – keep it covered, work quickly and use ample butter.

Until I cook again!

Simple Pasta in a Tomato Sauce with Salmon

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I made a very simple dish for lunch yesterday.

I really like pasta since it is so versatile and can stand up to just about any flavors.

I had a side of salmon that I had baked in the oven the night before and so when I learned that I have guests for lunch,  I decided to make pasta with the salmon and some asparagus that I had blanched.

First for a simple tomato sauce:

1 Tbs. Olive Oil

1 tsp. fennel seeds

1 Tbs. red pepper flakes

6 cloves of garlic, sliced

Salt to taste

1 16 ounce can of whole peeled tomatoes.

Heat the oil gently in a pan and add the garlic, fennel and pepper flakes.  Cook on the lowest heat possible for the garlic and other spices to impart their flavor into the oil.

Next add the can of tomatoes and about 2 cups of water.  I crush the tomatoes with the back of a wooden spoon to get a chunky sauce.  Add salt to taste and simmer for about 15 to 20 minutes.

In the meantime, boil the water for the pasta and cook it.

In a separate pan, I crisped the salmon skin that I had removed.  This is an optional step.  I like the flavor that the crispy skin adds to the dish.

Heat through the cooked salmon and the asparagus.

When the pasta is still quite al dente, add it to the tomato sauce and stir well.  Cook till the pasta is cooked to the desired consistency.

I added some chopped fresh spinach because I had it laying about.

Serve the pasta in a large bowl with the salmon and asparagus mixture on top of the pasta.

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Serve with some crusty bread and a good olive oil to dip the bread.

I hope that you try this dish and play around the flavors and ingredients.

Until I cook again!