Burek

About This Recipe

In Bosnia, burek means one specific thing: phyllo dough filled with spiced ground beef, coiled into a large spiral and baked in a round tray. (Other fillings like cheese or potato go by different names — spinach pie is zeljanica, cheese is sirnica.) Burek is the quintessential Sarajevo breakfast, eaten fresh from the bakery with a glass of cold yogurt called kefir. Mastering the hand-stretched phyllo dough is the mark of a skilled Bosnian home baker, though shop-bought phyllo makes an accessible shortcut.

Ingredients

Serves 6

• 500 gplain flour
• 250 mlwarm water
• 1 tspsalt
• 2 tbspvegetable oil (for dough)
• 100 mlvegetable oil (for stretching)
• 500 gground beef
• 1 largeonion, finely grated
• 1.5 tspsalt (for filling)
• 1 tspblack pepper
• 50 mlwater (for filling)
• 100 mloil or melted butter (for brushing)

Instructions

1. 1

   Make dough

   Mix flour, salt, oil, and warm water into a smooth, pliable dough. Knead for 10 minutes. Divide into 4 balls, oil generously, cover and rest 30 minutes.

2. 2

   Prepare filling

   Mix raw ground beef with grated onion, salt, pepper, and water until combined.

3. 3

   Stretch dough

   On a large oiled cloth or table, stretch each dough ball paper-thin by hand, working from the center outward. Brush with oil.

4. 4

   Fill and roll

   Spread a quarter of the meat filling along one edge of the stretched dough. Roll into a long log using the cloth. Coil into a greased round baking tray, joining rolls end to end.

5. 5

   Bake

   Brush the top with oil. Bake at 200 °C for 40–45 minutes until deeply golden and crispy.

Variations

• •

  Sirnica — same technique with white cheese (feta-like) filling.

• •

  Zeljanica — spinach and cheese filling.

• •

  Krompiruša — potato and onion filling.

Storage

Best eaten fresh. Leftovers keep at room temperature for 1 day; reheat in the oven at 180 °C for 10 minutes.

Frequently Asked Questions