Recipe: Burek/Pita aka Balkan Pie

When preparing to come here to the Balkans I'd read about a local specialty known as "meat pie" that was typically served for breakfast. Meat pie?? It conjured images of a double-crust American-style pie with meat filling. Or I imagined that maybe it was rather like a chicken-pot pie. Ha! Was I surprised when I arrived here and saw this:

The version pictured above is made in a 1-1/2" deep, round, baking pan and was first introduced by a Turkish baker from Istanbul in Nis, Serbia, in 1498 (according to Wikepedia). In Macedonia, a version called "pita" (Пита or "pie") is prepared by layering ingredients in filo-dough, rolling into a pin-wheel and baked in the round pan. Burek* (Бурек) is pretty much the same as pita except that the layering is done directly into a 1-1/2" deep round pan with no rolling. Personally, I prefer the Pita version because it's a little less oily and breaks off into easy bite-sized pieces--though a Macedonian lady told me that if you make it yourself you can make any of them less oily. :)

Here's the basic recipe for pita:

Filo-Dough, about three sheets (give or take)
Filling (choose one from below)
Oil

Work quickly so that the dough does not dry out. Simply place a little oil and filling in between the layers and roll into a pin-wheel. (Or layer in baking pan for burek using a bit more filo dough and filling.) Heat at 482F (250C) for 20 minutes until golden brown.

The salty versions are served warm with a bottle of plain yogurt to drink.

Filling Options:
Quantity depends upon how much you want to make. :)

Meat: browned meat with onions and a little Vegeta (a use-in-every-dish-under-the-sun seasoning)

Spinach & Urda cheese
My best description for urda is that it's like a dryer cottage cheese (some places online give Ricotta cheese as an substitute). Here's a basic recipe: bring 1 liter of milk to a boil and then add 1 tsp lemon juice into 1/2 cup warm water and add to the boiling milk. Reduce heat and Stir constantly until curdles and whey are completely separated. The curdling should happen fairly quickly, but if it doesn't, increase heat and add more lemon juice. Strain mixture through cheese cloth (or tea towel) and rinse with running water for 1 minute. Squeeze out excess water. Voila! Homemade kinda-cottage cheese. Season with salt and mix with spinach for fill.

2-4 Eggs & Urda cheese
Beat eggs and mix together with the cheese. Personally, I'd probably add some onions as well... ok and maybe a little ham too to make a breakfast pita. :)

Pictured: Sarafina making Bosnian burek with eggs and urda. It was so fascinating to watch her make the filo-dough by hand. Such hard work, the dough so thin and delicate. Amazing!

Leeks or Cabbage & Urda

Sweet versions (like strudel):

Pumpkin, seasoned with sugar and cinnamon
Apple, chop fine and cook with a little lemon, sugar and cinnamon
Cherry or Raspberry (or any berry, really), cook with sugar and small amount of water and corn starch to thicken

The versions called "burek" and "pita" here in Macedonia are a bit different than in other places. In Bosnia and Kosovo they're still referred to as burek, but they are generally not done in the huge round pans. They're simply rolled into tight oblong pinwheels and baked on a flat baking pan. Here's a link to Wikepedia that has a great little article on all things Burek as related to it's Turkish roots and different variations found here in the Balkans.

Americanized Version: I'm tempted to try making a "meat pie" using a thin pizza dough to roll the ingredients into rather than filo-dough to get more of a bready version. What do you think? Worth a go?