About this Dish
Flaky pastry parcels filled with cheese, potato, spinach or mushroom — brought to Israel by Sephardic Jewish immigrants from the Balkans and Turkey. Eaten for breakfast or as a snack. The filling is indicated by the shape: triangles for cheese, rectangles for potato.
IngredientsServes 4
🧀Feta cheese, 200g crumbled
🧀Bulgarian white cheese or ricotta, 150g
🥚Eggs, 3 large (2 for filling, 1 for egg wash)
🥐Puff pastry sheets, 2 x 375g store-bought, thawed
🌿Fresh dill, small handful finely chopped
🧂Black pepper, ½ tsp freshly ground
🫘Sesame seeds, 2 tbsp for topping
🌰Nigella seeds (black sesame), 1 tbsp for topping
🌱Sesame seeds, 2 tablespoons for topping
🥛Sour cream or labneh, 2 tablespoons (mixed into potato filling)
Method
1
Preheat your oven to 200°C (fan 180°C) and line two baking trays with parchment paper. In a bowl, mix together the crumbled feta, white cheese or ricotta, 2 beaten eggs, dill, and black pepper until well combined — taste and adjust seasoning, keeping in mind the feta is already salty.2
Unroll the puff pastry sheets onto a lightly floured surface and cut each sheet into roughly 10cm squares. You should get about 12–16 squares total from both sheets.3
Place a heaped teaspoon of cheese filling in the centre of each square. Fold the pastry over diagonally to form a triangle, pressing the edges firmly together with your fingers, then crimp them with a fork to seal tightly so the filling doesn't escape.4
Arrange the burekas on your prepared trays with a little space between each one. Beat the remaining egg with a splash of water and brush generously over the tops for a golden, shiny finish.5
Sprinkle the tops liberally with sesame seeds and nigella seeds — this is the classic Israeli topping and adds lovely flavour and crunch. Bake for 20–25 minutes until deeply golden and puffed.6
Remove from the oven and leave to cool on the tray for at least 10 minutes before eating — the filling gets extremely hot. Burekas are best eaten the same day, warm or at room temperature, and are traditionally served with a hard-boiled egg and Israeli salad.User Reviews
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