Börek, rolls of taste
Another very popular Turkish street food is börek. It is a special Turkish pastry, yufka, similar to phyllo dough, which can be rolled and stuffed differently depending on the origin. You can buy it in specialized places, the börekçi, and here you can find various filling possibilities: cheese, spinach, potatoes, minced meat or anything and everything. Once stuffed and closed, the börek are brushed with egg yolk and baked or fried. In Turkey they are also eaten for breakfast (accompanied by Turkish tea, çay) so you have plenty of time to try various combinations and recipes throughout the day.
The original recipe of the Turkish Börek
The original recipe for Turkish Börek provides a filling based on minced veal, wrapped in yufka dough, to create cords which are then wrapped in a spiral movement, forming a savory pie with an original and delicious look.
But as we will see, Börek is an extremely versatile dish, which you can fill at will with the ingredients or spices of your choice, and giving it the shape that seems most practical.
Ingredients for 8 people:
For the yufka pasta: 340 g of flour 00,
200 ml of water, 8 gr of salt.
Fort the stuffing: 1 kg of minced veal,
1 glass of white wine, 2 onions, 1 clove of garlic, Extra Virgin Olive Oil, salt, pepe
To brush: yogurt.
Method
To prepare the Börek, start by kneading the yufka dough: arrange the flour on a pastry board and add the salt, then slowly add the warm water and start kneading.
Knead the dough until you get a homogeneous and very ductile dough. Cover it with cling film and place in the fridge to rest for at least 30 minutes. In the meantime, dedicate yourself to the filling: in a large saucepan, sauté the diced onion and the minced garlic. When they are wilted, add the minced meat and brown. Deglaze with the white wine, season with salt and pepper and let the Börek filling cool. Take the yufka dough and divide them into 18 balls of equal size. Roll out each portion of dough into a very thin sheet and sprinkle it with flour on both sides. Begin to assemble the Börek: take a sheet of yufka, arrange 1 tablespoon of filling in the center and distribute it over the entire length of the diameter. Roll up the yufka dough disc and create a filled string of about 2cm in diameter. Take the cord and starting from the center of the pan roll it up on itself creating a “snail”.
Wrap each new cord around the central “snail” creating a tight spiral. Fill the entire pan without leaving any gaps, then brush the surface of the Börek with yogurt. Bake the Börek at 180 degrees for about 15-20 minutes. When it is golden brown, take it out of the oven and let it cool.