Thursday, April 10, 2014

Spinach Borek on Griddle

Of course I do not have a convex griddle in US. I used non stick pan instead. But the result is perfect and the same taste that I get from a griddle. Most parts of Turkey it is called "Gozleme" but in my hometown "Sac boregi(borek on griddle)" is the synonym of "Gozleme" and it is more popular.

I have been craving this borek for the last few weeks. Finally I was able to cook two days ago. They turned out very well. I will definetely cook more with different fillings. I love spinach in pastries thus I made them with spinach and feta. But feel free to combine the vegetables you like. Here are some ideas;

Feta & parsley
Potatos with tomato paste
Sauteed leeks with feta
Sauteed zucchinies with spices
Sauteed ground beef with onions

I used;
1 pack of frozen spinach (I didn't have fresh ones at home that day)
1 cup of feta cheese
1/2 chopped onion
1 ts salt
1 ts flaked red pepper for the filling.

2 cups + 2 tbs all purpose flour
1 cup water
1 ts salt  for the dough

1/3 cup olive oil for cooking
Additional flour for counter top

I use stand mixer in order to prepare dough. So mine was ready in 4-5 minutes. If you are going to knead with your hands place the flour and salt first. Than add room temperature water slowly to the mixture untill you have soft and smooth dough. It won't take more than 10 minutes.Take small pieces from the dough and make them ball shape in your palms. There should be 6 or 7 small balls ( like mandarin size) Place them floured conter top and sprinkle more flour to your dough balls. Start rolling them one by one till you have 10" diameter circle with a rolling pin.You can use more flour if needed while rolling the dough. Since I was using 12.5" pan for cooking my phyllos were around 10" or 11" diameter. Place the stuffing one side of phyllo than cover it with the rest of the dough. You will have a "D" shape at the end.
Heat the pan and place your borek inside the pan. I put olive oil to a bowl and use a kitchen brush to drizzle the oil on each surface. This makes boreks to have oil equally and prevents using much oil while cooking. It needs to be cooked slowly and you should be checking the surfaces every couple minutes. But you can start rolling anouther dough while the other is being cooked. Preparing and cooking took an hour for me which is not too long I think.

I would suggest to eat them while they are warm. It is great with tea or ayran (yogurt drink).
I hope you like it when you give a try.