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.

 

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.

 

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.

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

Until I cook again!