Savory Pastries

Cheese and Potato filled filo rolls; Peynirli, Patatesli Borek

By Ozlem Warren on June 23, 2010 in Appetizers and Mezes, Savory Pastries, Turkish Breakfast 4

Filo rolls with feta and potato, peynirli, patatesli borek

It is thought that the Ottoman Palace kitchens devised these tasty treats in order to tempt the precious little princes. The cigar shaped version with cheese and herb mixture is very popular at home for a snack, appetizer or as part of the Turkish breakfast. I had some left over cooked potato and added to the cheese and parsley mixture, the result was delicious – they disappeared very quickly, very popular with children as well as adults. Worth giving a go!

As with most savory Turkish filled pastries, this borek freeze very well once cooked too.

Serves 4 – 6
Preparation time: 20 minutes Cooking time: 25 minutes

260 gr / 9 oz phyllo (filo) pastry sheets, thawed
110 gr / 4 oz potato, cooked
100 gr/ 3 1/2 oz feta cheese, crumbled
100 gr/ 3 1/2 oz shredded mozzarella
2 eggs (one for the filling, one for brushing the boreks)
1 bunch / 1/2 cup chopped flat leaf (Italian) parsley
Salt and pepper to taste
15 ml / 1 tablespoon olive oil
15 ml / 1 tablespoon whole milk
Nigella and sesame seeds to decorate the boreks (before baking)

Bowl of water to seal the filo rolls

Preheat oven to 180 C / 350 F / Gas 4

Mash together the cheese (feta and mozzarella), 1 egg, cooked potato, parsley and the milk to form a smooth paste. Season with salt and pepper. However, if the feta cheese is already salty, you may wish not to add salt.

Lay the filo sheets in front of you and cut to form elongated rectangles. Keep the pastry covered with a damp cloth as you are working. This will help to avoid it getting too dry or less manageable.

Lay one strip of filo and place a tablespoon of the filling along one of the short ends (take care not to overfill as the filling may ooze out while cooking). Fold over the pastry from each side to seal in the mixture and then roll up like a cigar. Wet the end with water to seal. Continue, keeping the finished ones covered with a damp cloth as you work. Refrigerate until required.

Mix the olive oil and the other egg in a bowl. Grease the tray with a little olive oil. Brush the pastries with olive oil and egg mixture. Sprinkle nigella and sesame seeds over the pastries and bake until they are golden brown, about 25 minutes.

Serve hot as part of a meze spread.

Afiyet Olsun,

Ozlem

Ozlem'in Patlicanli Boregi – Ozlem's Smoked Eggplant and Vegetable Pastry

By Ozlem Warren on June 23, 2010 in Savory Pastries, Uncategorised 1

I discovered a brilliant website, www.foodsofturkey.com, introducing Turkish cuisine as well as exploring Turkish stores and restaurants around the world, worth checking out. They are running a “borek competition”, and I submitted my new smoked eggplant borek recipe, as well as my cheese and potato borek recipe (to be followed); let’s see what happpens!

Here is the smoked eggplant recipe:

Eggplant, aubergine is the king of vegetables (actually fruit, as it has seeds) at home; we must have over 200 recipes featuring our beloved eggplant. I made a twist to the eggplant boreks at home, this time grilling the eggplants with the skin on and using the lovely soft flesh. The result was a wonderful marriage of smoked eggplant flesh with sweet onions, tomatoes and mozzarella (you can also use mild cheddar cheese instead). These pastries would make great vegetarian appetizers; they are also lovely served with garlic yoghurt by the side.

Once cooked, they freeze very well too.

Serves 4 – 6
Preparation time: 45 minutes Cooking time: 25 – 30 minutes

260 gr / 9 oz fillo pastry sheets, thawed
1 medium eggplant (aubergine)
1 medium onion, finely chopped
3 small tomatoes, finely diced
1 bunch or 1/2 cup Italian flat leaf parsley, finely chopped
60 gr / 2 oz shredded mild cheddar or mozzarella
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 egg, beaten and 1 tablespoon olive oil for brushing the boreks
Sesame seeds to decorate the boreks
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Bowl of water to seal the boreks

Preheat the oven to 180 C / 350 F/ Gas Mark 4

For best results, thaw the frozen filo pastry in the fridge overnight and bring it to the room temperature 2 hours before using. That enables the filo thaw completely. If it is sold fresh as in the UK, you only need to bring the filo to the room temperature 30 minutes before using.

Cook the eggplants (aubergines) on a barbecue grill or over and open gas flame turning occasionally by the stalks until the outer skin is charred and blistered and the inner flesh soft. (Alternatively they can be baked in a hot oven for about 45 minutes). Peel away the burnt skin and discard the stalks. Put the flesh in a colander to drain away any bitter juices. (You can prepare the eggplants this way a day in advance; squeeze lemon juice over to retain its color and keep in the fridge covered). Finely chop the flesh and set aside.

Sauté the onions with some olive oil for a couple of minutes, until soft. Add the tomatoes and cook for another couple of minutes, until most of the liquid is evaporated. Stir in the parsley and season with salt and pepper. Once cooled, add the cheese and mix well. Check if more seasoning is needed, set aside to cool.

Place the sheets of filo on a flat surface and cover with a damp dish towel to keep moist.
On a dry surface, place 2 fillo pastry sheets on top of one another and cut in half horizontally to form two rectangles. Place 1 tablespoon of the mixture in the middle and roll like a cigar. Then, starting from one end, roll the cigar shape into a rose shape sealing the end with a little water. Make sure you seal all the openings/cracks with a little water. Repeat this with all rectangles.

Mix the egg with the olive oil. Brush the boreks with this mixture and place them on a greased tray. Sprinkle sesame seeds over the boreks and bake them in the oven for about 25 minutes or until golden.

Serve immediately with a leafy salad or garlic yoghurt by the side.

Afiyet Olsun!

Turkish Rose Ravioli – Gul Manti or Sosyete Mantisi

By Ozlem Warren on May 26, 2010 in Savory Pastries 5

This scrumptious coiled pastry with minced meat filling with garlicky yoghurt and spiced olive oil is one of our favourite for dinner parties – it is called also referred as Sosyete mantısı (roughly translated as society or posh mantı) at home, an easier yet equally delicious version of mantı, Turkish dumplings. Found memories of having them with cay, Turkish tea at my mother’s ladies’ afternoon tea gatherings.

In Türkiye, fresh yufka sheets are used for the pastry – filo pastry sheets work just as well here, to form the elegant rose shaped pastry. The trick with filo pastry sheets is that they need to be kept under slightly damp towel so they don’t dry out. Take one sheet at a time to make the coiled shape and work fast. The milk and olive oil sauce works like magic to keep the pastry intact while coiling. They can be made ahead of time and freeze well after baking. If freezing, reheat at preheated fan oven at 180C/350F for about 10 minutes.

You can also make a vegetarian version, using spinach and feta in the filling, as in Ispanakli peynirli gül böreği from my cookery book SEBZE – you can get a copy here worldwide.

Ispanakli gul boregi, from SEBZE cookery book

I hope you enjoy it as much as we do,

Afiyet Olsun,

Ozlem

Turkish Rose Ravioli - Gul Manti or Sosyete Mantisi

This scrumptious coiled pastry with minced meat filling with garlicky yoghurt and spiced olive oil is one of our favourite for dinner parties – it is called also referred as Sosyete mantısı (roughly translated as society or posh mantı) at home, an easier yet equally delicious version of mantı, Turkish dumplings. Found memories of having them with cay, Turkish tea at my mother’s ladies’ afternoon tea gatherings. In Türkiye, fresh yufka sheets are used for the pastry - filo pastry sheets work just as well here, to form the elegant rose shaped pastry. The trick with filo pastry sheets is that they need to be kept under slightly damp towel so they don’t dry out. Take one sheet at a time to make the coiled shape and work fast. The milk and olive oil sauce works like magic to keep the pastry intact while coiling. They can be made ahead of time and freeze well after baking. If freezing, reheat at preheated fan oven at 180C/350F for about 10 minutes.

Author: Ozlem Warren

Recipe type: Savoury pastry

Cuisine: Turkish cuisine

Serves: makes 7 coiled pastries

Ingredients

7 filo pastry sheets (I use Jus Roll) (if you are using thin filo sheets, I suggest using 2 sheets for each coiled pastry)
For the pastry filling:
750g/1lb 10 ½ oz minced beef
1 medium onion, finely chopped
3tbsp double concentrated tomato paste
1tbsp pomegranate molasses
1tbsp olive oil
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
For the milk and olive oil sauce:
60ml/2fl oz whole milk
1tsp olive oil
For brushing:
1 medium egg, beaten
2tsp olive oil
For the garlicky yoghurt:
450g/1lb whole milk yoghurt
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
Sea salt to taste
For the spiced olive oil:
60ml/2fl oz olive oil
1tsp pul biber
1tsp dried mint

Instructions

Combine the yoghurt with the chopped garlic and season with sea salt to your taste. Cover and set aside to bring to room temperature. Take the filo pastry sheets out of the fridge to bring to room temperature, 20 minutes before using, for the best results.
Line a large baking tray with non-stick baking paper.
Pour 1tbsp olive oil in a wide, heavy pan and stir in the chopped onions; sauté for 4 minutes over medium heat. Stir in the minced meat to the pan, combine with the onions and sauté for further 8 minutes then turn the heat off. Stir in the tomato paste and pomegranate molasses, season with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, combine well. Place the filling in a large bowl and set aside to cool.
Preheat fan oven to 180C/200C/400F. In a small bowl, combine milk with olive oil, to brush the filo pastry sheets. In another small bowl, combine beaten egg with olive oil, to brush the finished rose pastry.
Once the filling is cooled down, open pack of filo sheets. Lay the sheets on a dry, clean surface and cover with a slightly damp towel. To coil the filo successfully, the filo sheets need to be kept moist. Only take one sheet at time and keep the rest covered.
Take 1 filo sheet out and place on a dry surface lengthways. Working fast, brush the sheet with the milk and olive oil mixture. Then place about 110g filling in a line, along the edge near you, leaving 2cm at each end of the pastry filling free (try not to overfill, so the pastry don’t break while coiling). Gently roll up into a cylinder. Brush the pasty edge with the milk and olive oil mixture. Starting from one end, gently wind the filo into a coil and place on the tray with the baking paper on. Brush over and sides of the coiled pastry with the milk and olive oil mixture to seal the end (this helps to patch up any broken pastry too). Repeat the same procedure with the rest of the 6 filo pastry sheets and place the coiled pies side by side with about 1 inch space between them. Make sure to brush the top and sides of the coiled pastries with the milk and olive oil mixture, to keep them intact.
Brush the top and side of the pastries with the egg and olive oil mixture. Bake in middle shelf of the preheated fan oven for 25 – 30 minutes, until the pastry is golden brown and cooked through.
Pour olive oil on a small sauté pan and warm over medium heat. Stir in the pul biber and dried mint and gently infuse for 30-40 seconds, turn the heat off.
To serve; spread about 4tbsp garlicky yoghurt on an individual serving plate and place a rose pastry over the top. Drizzle pul biber and dried mint infused olive oil over the hot rose pastry, and drizzle a little more garlicky yoghurt over if you like too. Alternatively, serve the rose pastry plain with a zesty salad aside.