This recipe is for a tasty and simple crispy börek (puff pastry) filled with spinach and feta. In Turkey, we also call this ‘the rose börek’ because the pastry has the shape of a rose.
This börek calls for only a few ingredients. For the base of the pastry, you need baklava phyllo dough. The filling can be varied, but in the recipe I am sharing here I used spinach and white cheese.
Table of Contents
- Alternative Fillings
- About Baklava Phyllo Dough
- FAQs
- Cook Time
- Ingredients
- Preparation Video
- Instructions
Alternative Fillings
- White cheese or feta cheese: crispy and delightful; definitely worth trying at least once
- Cooked potatoes: very tasty
Whatever you use for your filling, this pastry is delicious as a snack, lunch, or meal.
About Baklava Phyllo Dough
You can find baklava phyllo dough in Turkish or Arabic supermarkets. It comes packaged in bundles of approximately 15 sheets of dough. It should be stored in the refrigerator to keep it fresh.
Once the package is opened, try to use the sheets as soon as possible. They tend to dry out quickly and become brittle, so I recommend covering the opened phyllo dough with a damp kitchen towel to keep it supple and soft.
What else can you make with baklava phyllo dough?
- Baklava: super crispy and delicious
- Turkish gozleme with white cheese: super easy in the frying pan
- Sariyer boregi: contains minced meat and currants
FAQs
Where can I buy phyllo dough?
You can find phyllo dough in Turkish and Arabic supermarkets. They should be located in the refrigerated section.
How long can you store cooked börek?
You can store börek for three days in the refrigerator and for two months in the freezer. Additionally, you can prepare this pastry in advance without the egg topping and without baking. You can store the prepared börek in the freezer for approximately six months. When you want to eat them, take the pastry out of the freezer, add the egg and sesame seed topping, and bake them.
How do you reheat spinach feta börek?
You can reheat börek the next day in a pan or in the oven. However, do not heat them for too long as it’s not good for the spinach, and make sure the pastry doesn’t dry out.
Is börek gluten-free?
No. Baklava phyllo dough contains wheat flour, so it is not gluten-free.
Cook Time
| Prep time | Cook time | Ready in | Yields |
|---|---|---|---|
| 25 min | 35 min | 1 hour | 6 servings |
Ingredients
- 14 sheets baklava phyllo dough
- 300 grams white cheese or feta cheese
- 400 grams spinach, washed and finely chopped
- 3 spring onions, finely chopped
- 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes (pul biber)
For the oil mixture:
- 125 milliliters milk
- 125 milliliters sunflower oil
- 125 milliliters water
- salt
For brushing:
- 1 egg yolk
- 5 tablespoons oil mixture (see above)
- sesame seeds
Preparation Video
Instructions
- Finely chop the spring onions and fry them with 3 tablespoons of sunflower oil.
- Chop the washed spinach finely and fry for 2 minutes. Heat the pan and turn off the heat as soon as you put the spinach in the pan.
- Mash the white cheese with a fork and add it to the spinach.
- Add red pepper flakes, black pepper, and a little salt.
- Stir the spinach mixture well and let it cool.
- Make a mixture of water, milk, sunflower oil, and a little salt.
- Open the package with the baklava dough sheets and take 2 sheets. Place a tea towel over the package to prevent the remaining sheets from drying out quickly.
- Place the 2 baklava sheets on top of each other and brush them with the mixture from step 6.
- Place the spinach on the long edge of the sheet.
- Roll them up and make a round shape like a rose (refer to the video above).
- Place the börek roses in an oven dish.
- Whisk the egg yolk with 5 tablespoons of oil mixture (from step 6) and brush it onto the börek.
- Sprinkle sesame seeds on the börek and bake them until golden brown in a preheated oven at 175°C for about 35 minutes.
- Serve and enjoy! Afiyet olsun!
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