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Tray bake filo pastry with ground meat and onions; Kiymali Borek

Turkish tray bake pastry with ground meat and onions; Kiymali tepsi boregi

Turkish tray bake pastry with ground meat and onions; Kiymali tepsi boregi

My parents are visiting from Istanbul; it’s been over three years since they were last here, it really is wonderful to have them in England. Regular visitors of this blog knows that my parents’ love of Turkish food and passion for sharing others have been a major influence on us and hence the share of delicious Turkish cuisine in my blog. You can imagine how excited I am about spending time with parents, cooking together with my mother, gathering  with friends and family to share.

Spread the ground meat & onion mixture over the yufka or filo pastry sheets

Spread the ground meat & onion mixture over the yufka or filo pastry sheets

My mother brought some wonderful yufka, Turkish fresh, paper thin sheets of pastry – a real luxury as I can’t get them here in England. We made this easy and delicious tray bake with ground meat and onions; kiymali tepsi boregi. Another delicious borek you can easily make at home using filo pastry sheets if yufka is not available.

This lovely recipe and over 90 authentic recipes are included at Ozlem’s Turkish Table cookery book. Signed hardback copies of Ozlem’s Turkish Table is 30 % off via GBPublishing at this linkuntil  end July 3rd 2020. It is delivered worldwide, including the USA. The offer has been our way of helping out food lovers with home cooking, especially during the Covid 19 lock down. Many thanks for all your kind words and sharing your delicious creations with us. Signed copies will still continue at this link.

My best wishes,

Ozlem

4.7 from 3 reviews
Tray bake filo pastry with ground meat and onions; Kiymali Borek
 
An easy and delicious kiymali borek, Turkish savory pastry with ground meat and onions filling. Yufka, Turkish fresh pastry sheets are used traditionally, but filo pastry sheets also work very well. You can serve as an appetizer or as a morning or afternoon snack with tea.
Author:
Recipe type: Boreks, Turkish Savory Pastries
Cuisine: Turkish Cuisine
Serves: 8-10
Ingredients
  • 3 sheets of yufka Or 12 sheets of filo pastry (each sheet 48cmx25cm), thawed
  • 2 onions, finely chopped
  • 400 gr/ 14 oz. ground beef or lamb (or a mixture)
  • 2 eggs
  • 8 fl. oz. /1 cup whole or semi skimmed milk + extra 2 tbsp. milk for the top of the pastry
  • 4 fl. oz./ ½ cup water
  • 45ml / 3 tbsp. olive oil
  • Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Instructions
  1. Heat 1 tbsp. olive oil in a wide, heavy pan and stir in the chopped onions. Sauté over medium heat for 3-4 minutes to soften them up.
  2. Stir in the ground meat to the onion mixture and sauté for another 5 minutes over medium heat. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper
  3. Beat 1 egg and 1 egg white (save the remaining 1 egg yolk in a small bowl for later) and mix with 1 cup of milk and ½ cup of water.
  4. Grease a baking tray with 1 tbsp. olive oil and spread 1 sheet of yufka (with excess of yufka hanging out of tray) or 2 sheets of filo pastry on top of one another.
  5. Spread 3 tbsp. of milk, water & egg mixture evenly over the pastry.
  6. Lay the next sheet of yufka or 2 more sheets of filo pastry. Again, Spread 3 tbsp. of milk, water & egg mixture evenly over the pastry.
  7. If using filo pastry, lay two more sheets. Again, Spread 3 tbsp. of milk, water & egg mixture evenly over the pastry.
  8. Spread the ground meat and onion mixture evenly over the pastry.
  9. Lay the last layer of yufka sheet over the filling and tuck in and fold the excess sides of yufka sheet over the filling as a layer.
  10. If using filo pastry sheets, spread the ground meat and onion filling over the 6th sheet, after spreading the egg, milk and water mixture.
  11. Place 2 more sheets of filo pastry over the filling and continue to spread 3 tbsp. of milk, water & egg mixture evenly over the pastry. Lay the 10th filo sheet spread 3 tbsp. of milk, water & egg mixture evenly over the pastry. Then lay the last two sheets of filo pastry.
  12. Mix 2 tbsp. milk with the remaining egg yolk and remaining 1 tbsp. olive oil (if you have any milk & egg and water mixture left, you can add this mixture too). Spread this mixture over the last sheet of yufka or filo pastry.
  13. Bake in the pre-heated oven (180C/350F) for 20- 25 minutes, until the top of the pastry turns to golden to light brown.
  14. Once cooked, cover with a baking paper to keep moist and cool for 10 minutes. Slice in squares and serve warm.
Notes
If using frozen filo pastry, thaw overnight in the fridge or bring to room temperature 2 hours before using. If you’re using fresh filo pastry kept in the fridge (as in the UK), bring to room temperature 30 minutes before using. Keep the filo pastry covered with a damp cloth as you are working. This will help to avoid it getting too dry or less manageable.
 

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30 Responses to Tray bake filo pastry with ground meat and onions; Kiymali Borek

  1. jaz May 20, 2014 at 12:10 pm #

    have a wonderful time with your parents! it must be so wonderful to be able to cook for them.

    • Ozlem Warren May 20, 2014 at 7:48 pm #

      Thanks Jaz, it really is lovely to be able to cook for them – though you can’t keep my mum off the kitchen, which is always very welcome! Love our time in and out of kitchen : )

  2. senior dogs abroad May 20, 2014 at 4:10 pm #

    Özlem, Your recipe sounds very ‘user friendly’ which is just the kind I need. (In other words, fool-proof.) I’ll be right out there at our Friday market getting some yufka for it next week when we finally make it out to our island.

    Thanks for posting the special funds for the miners’ families, most among the poorest of the poor of Turkey. It’s good to know that there are several organizations and individuals helping out in this terrible time. Öptüm. Jolee

    • Ozlem Warren May 20, 2014 at 7:47 pm #

      Merhaba Jolee, many thanks – hope you enjoy this easy tray bake borek, with that delicious, fresh yufka from Burgazada. Soma needs all the help they can get, hope these funds reach out to folks. Cok selam ve sevgiler, Ozlem

  3. Joy @MyTravelingJoys May 20, 2014 at 4:57 pm #

    Love this easy tray borek! One of these days I’ll give it a try when I have a group to feed. Enjoy your time with your family! I know how precious that time is. We’ve got our grandparents arriving next week so we’ll be busy taking them around Poland.

    I was really saddened and angered by the whole situation, esp.. the political aftermath regarding the Soma accident. It’s a tragedy that could have been avoided. 🙁

    • Ozlem Warren May 20, 2014 at 7:44 pm #

      Thanks for stopping by Joy, do have a go at this borek, gets ready in no time and a crowd pleaser! Enjoy your time with your grandparents and thanks for your sympathy for the mining tragedy; one would hope lessons learned for a better future.

  4. mm_skg May 20, 2014 at 5:08 pm #

    I just love this kind of borek!

    • Ozlem Warren May 20, 2014 at 7:42 pm #

      thank you!

  5. Peri's Spice Ladle May 21, 2014 at 3:55 am #

    Dear Ozlem, deeply saddened by the recent mining tragedy in Turkey, we have been closely following it and our hearts are with the country and families.

    Love this simple Filo pastry with meat borek…just the best flavors in one crunchy bite:)

    Enjoy with your lovely parents creating precious memories. XxPeri.

    • Ozlem Warren May 21, 2014 at 8:37 am #

      Thank you Dear Peri, for your kind words, much appreciate it.
      My parents say hello and all the best wishes to you all, Ozlem xx

  6. Alan May 21, 2014 at 5:43 am #

    Soma is a tragedy compounded (if that is possible) by the appalling response by the PM and the total lockdown of the town by security forces. Rumours abound because there were double the normal numbers underground (approx 700) because of shift-change. Some 200 are unaccounted for and there are suspicions that illegal/unregistered and grossly under-paid Syrian refugees were being being used as ‘black’ labour.

    • Ozlem Warren May 21, 2014 at 8:36 am #

      Really is so very sad, just beyond imagination in this day and age.. it seems there’s a growing awareness, raise for humanity, which I hope continues. Heart and thoughts with at home, thanks for stopping by Alan.

  7. Mariam May 22, 2014 at 1:16 am #

    Great recipe, thanks for posting. Please, do tell me the approximate amount of chopped onions for this recipe. Ithanks 😀 am not gifted in the kitchen at all and my guess would be so wrong…:D

    • Ozlem Warren May 22, 2014 at 3:03 pm #

      Merhaba dear Mariam, there’s a generous amount of finely chopped onions here, which adds a lovely flavor – 2 chopped onions equal just over 1/2 cup. Hope you enjoy it!:)

  8. Phil in the Kitchen May 22, 2014 at 10:22 pm #

    I’m assuming that yufka is the pastry that I’ve seen being rolled out with incredibly long rolling pins in pictures. That’s a fascinating skill. I love the sound of this. Enjoy your parents visit.

    • Ozlem Warren May 23, 2014 at 2:27 pm #

      That’s right Phil, that is yufka and fascinating to watch how it is made with the long handled rolling pin, glad you enjoyed the post.

  9. BacktoBodrum May 23, 2014 at 7:37 am #

    I’m just catching up with my blog reading. Thanks for the great recipes and the groups raising funds for Soma.

    • Ozlem Warren May 23, 2014 at 2:26 pm #

      thanks BB, hope they reach out to the folks for help, enjoy Scotland, Ozlem

  10. Zenya May 30, 2014 at 2:18 am #

    Dear Ozlem,

    Thank so much for this recipe! Does this reheat well, by any chance?

    If not, Ill save for the next time I have guests! 🙂

    All best, ZS

    • Ozlem Warren May 30, 2014 at 3:05 pm #

      Merhaba Zenya, thanks for your comment, yes, this borek freezes and reheats very well, hope you enjoy it!:)
      Ozlem

  11. Mandana June 3, 2014 at 5:34 am #

    I am Iranian but I know turkish language very well. I was in Istanbul 20 years ago. I stayed in turkey for almost a year. I love turkish food and TV series. Thank you for your recipes. I will try to make them. chok memnoon oldum.

    • Ozlem Warren June 3, 2014 at 1:33 pm #

      Merhaba Mandana, how nice to get your note, thank you very much. We share a rich culinary heritage and it’s a pleasure to share recipes here, I am glad you’re enjoying it – afiyet olsun, cok selamlar. Ozlem

  12. Turkey's For Life December 20, 2014 at 9:09 am #

    We love our börek to have minced meat in it – the juices go so well with the pastry. Could just eat some right now! 🙂
    Julia

    • Ozlem Warren December 20, 2014 at 4:49 pm #

      Thanks Julia, we love kiymali borek too !:) Sevgiler, Ozlem

  13. Dan June 30, 2017 at 7:25 pm #

    What size pan do you make this in?

    • Ozlem Warren June 30, 2017 at 9:42 pm #

      Hi Dan, it was about 30 cm in diameter but you can bake it in regular oven tray too.

  14. Sarah July 2, 2017 at 8:14 am #

    I made this tonight, but as we had some spinach that needed using I added that too. Delicious! Thanks Ozlem.

    • Ozlem Warren July 2, 2017 at 12:07 pm #

      Merhaba Sarah, so glad you enjoyed this borek, afiyet olsun! Spinach is a lovely addition too, Ozlem

  15. Ferya OZEL February 22, 2021 at 6:55 pm #

    iyi gunler, Tariflerinizi Turkce olarakta yayinlarsaniz memnun oluruz. Sevgiler.

    • Ozlem Warren February 25, 2021 at 10:20 am #

      Merhabalar, cok tesekkur ederim notunuz icin; yurtdisinda yasiyorum, dolayisiyla tarifleri herkesin anlayabilmesi icin ingilizce dili en uygunu oluyor; bu aralar cok yogunum ancak firsat buldugumda bende Turkce de yayinlamayi arzu ederim, cok tesekkurler, sevgiler, Ozlem

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