Spinach and Feta Börek

La storia di questo piatto

Börek carries the memory of Ottoman kitchens where empires dissolved into dough — a dish born where East meets West, where the Bosphorus whispers between two worlds and every family guards its own folded secret.

Ingredienti

• 6 sheets Yufka pastry sheets (or phyllo)
• 500 g Fresh spinach
• 250 g Feta cheese
• 1 medium Onion
• 100 ml Melted butter
• 2 tablespoons Olive oil
• 0.5 teaspoon Nutmeg
• q.b. g Salt and pepper
• 1 tablespoon Sesame seeds

Preparazione

1. Pour 4 tablespoons of oil into a large skillet and place it over medium heat. When the oil is hot (you'll feel the heat with your hand a few centimetres above), add the finely minced white onion. Stir occasionally with a wooden spoon. After 5-6 minutes, the onion will become translucent and the edges will begin to turn slightly golden. You'll smell a sweet, pleasant aroma: when there's no more raw onion smell and the scent is sweetish, it's ready. If you detect a bitter or burnt smell, the heat is too high.
2. Add the cleaned and washed spinach to the golden onion. Increase the heat to medium-high and stir frequently with the spoon. You'll see the spinach shrink and darken: from a large pile it will become a compact mass. You'll also notice much water releasing from the spinach and the pan will steam. When the spinach no longer releases liquid (after 8-10 minutes), transfer it to a colander. Using the back of a spatula (or the spoon), gently press the colander to drain all the water without crushing the spinach too much.
3. Place the dried spinach in a medium-sized bowl. With your fingers, crumble the feta directly into the bowl in small pieces. Add a pinch of nutmeg (grate it fresh if possible: it will have more flavour), salt and pepper to taste. With a wooden spoon, gently mix for 2-3 minutes until the feta is evenly distributed throughout the mixture. The feta should not become a smooth cream, but should remain in small pieces scattered throughout the spinach.
4. Lay a sheet of phyllo pastry on a dry, clean work surface. Take a soft brush, dip it in the lukewarm melted butter (not boiling, or it will burn the bristles) and brush it over the entire sheet right to the edges, covering every area well. Distribute 3-4 tablespoons of the spinach-feta filling in a compact line along the bottom edge of the sheet: the line should be about 3 centimetres high and about 2 centimetres away from the sides.
5. Fold the bottom edge of the sheet over the filling and begin rolling firmly but without tearing, as if wrapping a gift. As you roll, fold the left and right edges inward so the filling stays contained and doesn't escape from the sides. Continue rolling tightly until you have a compact cylinder. The roll should be well sealed, uniform and with no visible air bubbles.
6. Repeat the previous steps with the other phyllo sheets until you have about 8-10 börek (depending on the size of your baking tray). As you finish them, arrange them on a tray lined with baking paper, either standing upright or rolled in a spiral, as you prefer. Leave about 1-2 centimetres of space between each one so the pastry expands and cooks evenly.
7. Using the brush, brush hot melted butter over the top of each börek, making two crosscross strokes (one from left to right, one from right to left) to cover well. Sprinkle generously with white sesame seeds (2-3 tablespoons total). Bake in a preheated oven at 200°C. After 20-25 minutes, the börek will be golden all over, the sesame seeds will be golden brown and the pastry will be crispy to the touch. You'll smell an intense, fragrant aroma coming from the oven.
8. Remove the tray from the oven using sturdy tongs and place it on a work surface. Let the börek rest for 5 minutes at room temperature: this allows the pastry to settle and become even crispier, without the filling bursting out when you cut them. Serve the börek still warm, optionally accompanied by Greek yoghurt as a dipping sauce.