This delicious Borek recipe is better than a Sunday roast for me. Every Sunday my mom would prepare this tray pastry with fresh filos and all the family would gather and enjoy this flavorful pastry with various fillings, this post will be about the ground meat filling.
History of Borek
History Today Magazine published an extensive article about the history and origins of Borek. The article – not me even though I obviously believe it – claims that borek was much celebrated and spread to far and wide, so everyone else can taste it too by the Ottoman palace. Borek is common in many countries and many claim it to be originally their creation. There is really no need to do so as borek has been around since centuries from the Far East to the Far North, in various sizes, shapes, fillings and cooking methods.
Some turcologists believe that the word ‘börek’ comes from the Persian ‘bûrak’, which is any dish made with yufka (thin layers of dough). Others insist that the word “borek” originates from the Turkish root of bur- (meaning “to wrap”) which reminds to wrap fillings in or to wrap and twist the dough to make thin sheets of yufka.
Types of Borek
Börek (Turkish) also called burek (Balkans), borek (Armenia), spanakopita, bourekaki (Greece), byrek (Albania, Bulgaria), bourekas (Israel) has many variations. Below is a list of börek types common in Turkey:
What are the different shapes of borek
This post is starting to get too long! Anyway, I cannot stop mentioning shapes, the below ones are traditional shapes. There are some new shapes such as mussel, ribbon, pleated and shirred.
- Rose shaped rolled and then curled
- Cigarette shaped thin and long
- Cigar-shaped short and fat
- Flat baked in a tray
- Triangular shaped
- Spiral shaped also called arm shaped
What and when to serve the borek with?
Serving borek for breakfast, lunch or tea time. A tray borek can be served as the main course accompanied with a scoop of plain yogurt, Ayran (yogurt drink) or a fruit compote. I would not bother with a salad or any other side.
Can I freeze borek?
Yes, borek freezes well, make sure to keep it covered and heat in the oven or in a skillet with a lid without waiting for it to thaw.
How to make a borek?
For tray borek, start with the filling. This recipe is with ground meat. Buy meat that is around %12 fat. Pre-cook the meat on the stove with chopped onion and garlic, salt, pepper and other spices of your choice such as thyme, red pepper flakes. Prepare a mixture of eggs, sunflower oil, water and make sure to pour and spread between every layer and on the top layer. Spread the filling in the middle layer, do not put too much or the borek will turn too soggy. Bake until the top and bottom is golden brown, let rest for 5 minutes to cool and serve.
You can find yufka (filo sheets) in Turkish markets or even in major Supermarkets. Make sure – for this recipe – not to buy the baklava filo, which is a different type of yufka, go for the ones that say, Borek Filo.
I hope you liked my post and recipe do comment below and let me know.
Borek Recipe with Meat Filling
Ingredients
- 500 grams yufka (4-5 yufka)
- 1 teaspoon nigella seeds
- 1 teaspoon sesame seeds
Milky Mixture
- 250 millilitres milk
- 200 millilitres sunflower oil
- 2 eggs
Filling
- 300 grams ground meat
- 1 onion
- 2 garlic cloves
- 1 pepper optional
- 2 tablespoons sunflower oil
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes optional
- ½ teaspoon thyme optional
- 1 tomato optional
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste optional
Instructions
Filling
- Start with preparing the filling.
- Heat a pot slightly with two tablespoons of sunflower oil. Add chopped onions and sauté over medium heat until translucent.
- Add ground beef and cook while mixing and seperating to crumbles with the back of a spoon. The meat should change color and absorb back its own water.
- Then add the chopped garlic and cook another minute.
- Add red or green pepper chopped to small dices, cook until softens.
- Add a chopped tomato and a tablespoon of tomato paste and mix to leave its aroma.
- Add all the spices and herbs listed in the ingredients. Mix and remove from heat.
- Add chopped parsley, mix and set aside.
Spread mix
- Break the eggs in a measuring jug and whisk slightly.
- Add the oil to measure.
- Add the milk and mix all together. Mix again before pouring onto layers of yufka.
Assembly
- Pre-heat the oven to 190°Celsius
- Spread an oven sheen on the baking tray of the oven
- Place a sheet of yufka.
- Generously pour some of the spread mix all around the top.
- Repeat until using half of the yufka.
- Place evenly all the ground meat filling on the yufka.
- Repeat yufka and spread mix spreading until all the yufka is finished. Spare some spread mix for the very top too.
- Sprinkle with nigella seeds and sesame seeds on top.
- Bake until golden and crispy on the top and bottom of the borek.
Notes
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