Turkish Borek Recipe

This Turkish Borek Recipe or Carsaf Borek is an easy hand opening of borek phyllo dough.

To summarise, it has this name as we roll the Burek Layers by hand. We use a clean table napkin or sheet. The napkin helps us to collect the roll noodles.

In few words, the dough opens by hand, and the collection can also be by hand, but helping with a kitchen napkin is simpler. The dough turns out more crumbly after baking, as the layer gets more air in gathering it.

How To Cook It

First, this recipe will explain the preparation of the dough and the steps we follow for opening the layers by hand, without using a noodle opener or kitchen roller. This type of dough kneads with only three ingredients, flour, water, and salt.

Also, the filling of the pie can be your choice. I cooked it with Zucchinis, but you can fill it with Spinach, Cottage cheese, and yogurt, Green Onions, Leeks, Potatoes, etc.

In the begining, we must knead the dough to open well, without tearing the dough. Also, it rests so that it becomes softer and rolls well. Another element, the water we use to knead the dough, should be warm.

Unlike the traditional dough of our pie, in this dough, the moisture rate is higher. Usually, in our burek recipes, the moisture ratio is 50% water of the flour quantity.

So, We use a little more water for this borek dough. The dough should be softer but not sticky. Therefore, we work well enough to achieve a soft dough.

Ingredients

For the dough

• 500-550 g of flour
• 350 ml of warm water
• 1 tsp of salt

For the layers

• 50 g of butter
• 50 ml of vegetal oil
• 1 egg yolk (facultative)

For the filling

• A little summer squash or 2-3 zucchinis
• 1 egg
• 1 tbsp full of non-salty cottage cheese
• 50 g white cheese
• 50 g of ground kashkaval cheese

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Directions

Dough Kneading

1. To start, in a bowl, we will throw flour, salt and gradually add warm water. After mixing all, we will work the dough well for 10-15 minutes. After this result, we should have a soft dough, which may still be slightly sticky.
2. For that, sprinkle on the table some flour. Next, knead the dough for another 5 minutes to gather it and have the right softness.
3. Once ready, divide the dough into equal parts. I split it into four parts. We can choose to separate it even especially if you are new to opening the dough by hand. This way, you will not have to roll too large noodles.
4. We will place the pieces of dough on a clean napkin and cover it with a part of it, letting it rest for at least 20 minutes.
5. In the meantime, we can prepare the filling we have chosen for the pie. In my case, I grated the squash with a grater, left it in a colander to remove excess water. Then mix it with the other ingredients and set it aside to use when the noodles are ready.

Rolling steps

1. Once the time passes, we will open the dough in circle shapes with a dimension of 20-30 cm. Also, spread them on the surface with butter and oil mixture.
2. As well, place them on a plate on top of each other, and we will cover them with a bag to let them rest for another 20 minutes.
3. On a table, we open a clean cover, and on top of it, we will open the noodles by hand. We pull the noodle only on its edges by pulling with the fingertips only the contour of the noodle.
4. We will open the noodle as much as we can. Sprinkle it with a few oil mixture.
5. On one side, after we have folded the noodle for 10 cm, we will add the prepared filling. We can place the filling in one line. Even spread the mass on a surface with a width of 20-30 cm.
6. We collect the roll noodles by lifting the table cloth. We place the rolls in the pan prepared for baking the pie, which we also greased.
   
7. Finally, we will sprinkle it with the remaining fat and coat the noodle from above with an egg yolk.
   
8. After that, bake it in the preheated oven at 200 degrees for 35-40 minutes, or at the temperature you usually bake the pie in your oven.
   
9. Lastly, take it out of the oven after cooking, let it cool a bit, and cut it into pieces to serve as desired.

Bon Appetit!