Bourekas with Cheese and Potato Fillings

Before you start

Bourekas are filled savory pastries made in Sephardic Jewish kitchens and found everywhere from Turkey and the Balkans to Israel, where they are sold in bakeries and served at breakfast and Shabbat meals. Doughs vary, but many home cooks use puff pastry, which bakes into light, crisp layers. Traditionally the shape tells you what is inside: triangles for cheese and rectangles or other shapes for potato, a convention that varies from bakery to bakery.

This recipe makes nine of each. The cheese filling mixes salty feta with mild ricotta and an egg yolk so it sets creamy rather than runny. The potato filling uses deeply browned onion for sweetness and flavor. Keep the fillings cool and fairly dry, seal the edges well and finish with egg wash and seeds. They are often served with hard-boiled eggs and pickles.

Ingredients

• Cheese filling125 g (¾ cup crumbled) feta cheese
• 100 g (scant ½ cup) whole-milk ricotta
• 1 large egg yolk
• ¼ tsp black pepper
• Potato filling350 g (2 medium) russet or Yukon Gold potatoes — peeled and cut into chunks
• 2 tbsp olive or neutral oil
• 1 medium onion — finely chopped
• ½ tsp fine salt
• ¼ tsp black pepper
• Pastry500 g (1.1 lb) puff pastry — chilled, in two pieces
• 1 large egg beaten with 1 tsp water — for egg wash
• 1 tbsp sesame or nigella seeds

Method

1. Boil the potatoes in salted water for 15 to 20 minutes, until very tender. Meanwhile, cook the onion in the oil over medium heat for 12 to 15 minutes, stirring, until deep golden.
2. Drain the potatoes well and let them steam dry for 2 minutes. Mash with the onion and its oil, salt and pepper. Cool completely.
3. For the cheese filling, mash the feta with the ricotta, egg yolk and pepper until mostly smooth. Refrigerate until needed.
4. Heat the oven to 200°C (400°F) and line two baking sheets with parchment.
5. Roll each piece of pastry to a 30 cm (12 in) square, about 3 mm thick. Cut each into nine 10 cm (4 in) squares.
6. For the cheese bourekas, place a heaped tablespoon (about 25 g) of cheese filling on one corner half of a square, brush the edges with egg wash and fold diagonally into a triangle. Press the edges with a fork.
7. For the potato bourekas, put about 30 g of potato filling along one side of a square, brush the edges with egg wash and fold it in half into a rectangle. Seal with a fork.
8. Arrange on the sheets, brush with egg wash and sprinkle with seeds. Bake for 22 to 25 minutes, until puffed, crisp and deep golden. Cool for 10 minutes before serving.

Tips for success

• Chill the shaped bourekas for 10 minutes if the pastry softened while you worked.
• Taste the potato filling before shaping; it should be well seasoned because the pastry is not.
• Use a different seed on each kind, such as sesame for cheese and nigella for potato, for an easy visual cue.

Substitutions

Feta and ricotta

Use all feta for a saltier, sharper filling, or swap the ricotta for farmer cheese or cottage cheese pressed through a sieve.

Puff pastry

A homemade oil-based boureka dough or filo works. Filo gives thinner, crisper shells and bakes in about 18 minutes.

Potato filling

Use cooked spinach, squeezed very dry and mixed with feta, or sautéed mushrooms and onion.

Variations

Eggplant bourekas

Fill with roasted eggplant mashed with feta and garlic.

Mini bourekas

Cut 7 cm squares and use 15 g of filling each; bake 18 to 20 minutes.

Troubleshooting

Fillings leaked onto the sheet

The pastry was overfilled or not sealed. Use the weights given, leave a clean border and press with a fork.

Pastry is pale underneath

The oven was not fully heated or the bourekas were crowded. Heat the oven fully and bake on the lower-middle rack with space between them.

Potato filling tastes flat

The onions were not browned enough or the filling needs salt. Cook the onions until deep golden and season well.

Storage

Refrigerate cooled bourekas in a covered container within 2 hours and eat within 3 days; reheat at 180°C (350°F) for 8 to 10 minutes. Freeze unbaked shaped bourekas for up to 2 months and bake from frozen, adding 5 to 8 minutes.

Safety notes

The cheese filling contains raw egg yolk until baked. Refrigerate leftovers promptly. Contains wheat, egg, milk and sesame.