Traditional Turkish 'Börek' with Courgettes and Cheese

Making bourek (börek) or filo pastry is such a heart-warming activitiy that reminds me of my childhood days, when my grandmother would come and bring fresh filo pastry to make yummy stuff. Generally it would be bourek or fried small envelope pastries made with filo. My paternal grandmother used to make the best courgette filo pastry with milk, and however much I try, I cannot attain the same texture. There are numerous delicious recipes you can make by using filo pastry (ready made or home made). It is a good snack to have at home, great for a quick breakfast on work days, an amazing afternoon tea and if you are making it yourself, you know what's inside, thus you can make it healthy.

  
Ingredients:

4 sheets of big filo pastry (or 8 sheets of Greek baklava filo pastry)
2 small courgettes
400 gr of white cheese (or Greek feta cheese)
1 egg white
A splash of milk
Olive oil
Salt, pepper
Dry mint
Dry red chilli

How to:

1. First, let's start with the courgettes. Wash and grate them in a bowl, add the cheese, one egg white, 2 or 3 tablespoons of milk, a pinch of salt, half a teaspoon of black pepper, 1-2 teaspoons of dry mint and a sprinkling of dry chilli. Mix well in a bowl and set aside.

2. Take a big oven tray and lightly grease it with olive oil.

If you are using big Turkish filo pastries, the filo should be bigger than the tray, so keep the bigger parts drooping outside of the tray, so that you can overlap it on top of everything and it will look like a big envelope.
If you are using Greek filo sheets, they may be the same size as your tray, which is fine.

Lay the first filo sheet and sprinkle with some extra virgin olive oil. Lay your filo pastries one by one and between each layer keep spreading olive oil. This will make your bourek very crunchy.

3. Once you have used a little bit more than half of your filo pastries, take the bowl with the courgettes and cheese mixture and pour it over the filos, spread evenly and add a splash of milk (yes, even more milk).

4. Keep layering the filos, brushing with olive oil in every layer. And when you come to the last filo, put it on top firmly. If you are using big Turkish filo pastries, fold the overlapping bit on top and tuck in from the sides, so you will have a big envelope kind of bourek.

5. Now brush the top layer with generous amount of extra virgin olive oil, sprinkle some sesame seeds and black cumin (nigella sativa) seeds and sprinkle a little bit of water with your hands.

6. Bake in the preheated oven of 200 degrees for 45 minutes or until it rises and is golden brown.

 

 7. Leave to cool before you slice your bourek. Perfect for tea time, or for kids when they come back from school. I know because I used to love it so much! Eat and enjoy. 

 Utterly delicious snack for the afternoons when you feel peckish!