Meat Borek Recipes

BOREK RECIPE WITH MEAT FILLING

Steps:

• Start with preparing the filling.
• Heat a pot slightly with two tablespoons of sunflower oil. Add chopped onions and sauté over medium heat until translucent.
• Add ground beef and cook while mixing and seperating to crumbles with the back of a spoon. The meat should change color and absorb back its own water.
• Then add the chopped garlic and cook another minute.
• Add red or green pepper chopped to small dices, cook until softens.
• Add a chopped tomato and a tablespoon of tomato paste and mix to leave its aroma.
• Add all the spices and herbs listed in the ingredients. Mix and remove from heat.
• Add chopped parsley, mix and set aside.
• Break the eggs in a measuring jug and whisk slightly.
• Add the oil to measure.
• Add the milk and mix all together. Mix again before pouring onto layers of yufka.
• Pre-heat the oven to 190°Celsius
• Spread an oven sheen on the baking tray of the oven
• Place a sheet of yufka.
• Generously pour some of the spread mix all around the top.
• Repeat until using half of the yufka.
• Place evenly all the ground meat filling on the yufka.
• Repeat yufka and spread mix spreading until all the yufka is finished. Spare some spread mix for the very top too.
• Sprinkle with nigella seeds and sesame seeds on top.
• Bake until golden and crispy on the top and bottom of the borek.

MEAT BOREK RECIPE

Steps:

• 1. Finely chop onion, parsley, coriander and garlic. 2. In a large pan over medium heat pour olive oil. Sauté chopped onion and garlic for 5 minutes. Add ground beef. Cook, stirring occasionally until the meat turns brown. Add the spices and stir well. Add tomato paste and stir until well combined. Add pine nuts and stir. Turn the heat off, add chopped herbs and give a last stir. Let cool. 3. Preheat oven to 180C (355F) 4. Place 1 sheet of phyllo on a clean working surface (while you are working with one sheet cover the others with damp kitchen towel). Brush with olive oil and place another sheet on the first sheet. Brush again, thin layer of olive oil. On longer side of the dough, put a line of the meat filling. Roll the dough and place on a baking try lined with parchment paper. If the dough too dry, while you are rolling brush little bit more olive oil. Repeat with the rest of the dough. 5. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until golden brown.

TURKISH BOREK

Steps:

• In a large, deep skillet, heat the olive oil over moderate heat. Add the peppers, pul biber and onions, season with salt and pepper and cook, stirring frequently, until softened, about 10 minutes. Add the beef and cook until the liquid has evaporated, about 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Continue cooking over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are softened, about 15 minutes. Transfer the vegetables and meat to a bowl and let cool slightly.
• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F and lightly oil a 9- by 13-inch glass baking dish.
• In a medium bowl, whisk the eggs with the milk and 1/2 cup of the canola oil. Lay a sheet of yufka on a work surface and brush with the egg mixture; repeat until you have a stack of 2 sheets. Transfer the stack to the baking dish and spread one-third of the beef mixture on top. Repeat the layering twice more with the brushed yufka sheets and beef filling, then end with a stack of brushed yufka.
• Trim the overhanging yufka slightly and tuck it under itself. Brush any remaining egg mixture on top of the borek, top with the nigella sativa seeds and bake until deeply golden on top and sizzling, about 45 minutes. Let the borek rest for 20 minutes before cutting into squares and serving.

TRADITIONAL ROLLED BUREK (BOREK) RECIPE

Steps:

• Gather the ingredients.
• Heat a large frying pan over medium-low to medium heat and add the oil.
• Sauté the onion until soft and then add the ground beef, allspice , paprika , salt , and pepper to taste.
• Cook until the meat is crumbly but not dry. Cool completely before you continue. While ground beef mixture is cooling, preheat oven to 375 F.
• Once cooled, lay one sheet of phyllo dough on the counter. Keep the remaining sheets of phyllo dough covered with a damp kitchen towel, and work quickly to prevent it from drying out.
• Brush sheet with some of the melted butter. Place a heaping 1/3 cup of meat mixture on the sheet along the long side, 2 inches from the edge.
• Fold the bottom over the meat mixture and roll into a snake shape. Cut the roll in half and coil each roll into a snail shape.
• Place rolled dough and ground beef pinwheel on a nonstick baking sheet and butt the end up against the edge of the pan to prevent uncoiling. Brush with additional butter. Continue until you've used all the ground beef.
• Bake in a preheated oven 15 to 20 minutes or until just golden. A hint for handling phyllo dough: Be sure the dough is at room temperature before you open the box. Place the sheets of dough on a large cookie sheet and cover them with plastic wrap and then a heavy towel. In this way, they will not dry out while you are working with them. Work fast for best results and do not have the butter too hot when brushing the dough. Recipe Source: The Frugal Gourmet On Our Immigrant Ancestors by Jeff Smith (Wm Morrow) Reprinted with permission.

LAMB BOREK

Steps:

• Heat olive oil in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onion, salt, and lamb. Break up lamb into small crumbles. Cook, stirring occasionally, until most of the liquid evaporates, about 8 minutes. Toss in garlic, currants, pine nuts, cumin, coriander, cinnamon, paprika, black pepper, cayenne, and allspice. Cook and stir for 1 minute.
• Pour tomato sauce into the lamb mixture. Add water, stir, and reduce heat to medium. Cook until lamb mixture dries up and you can stir it without seeing liquid on the bottom of the pan, 20 to 30 minutes. Turn off heat and let cool completely before using.
• In the meantime, combine egg, yogurt, water, and butter in a bowl. Whisk together thoroughly.
• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Butter a round baking pan or sheet pan.
• Place 2 sheets of phyllo on your work surface. Keep remaining sheets covered with a damp towel. Sprinkle some egg wash lightly on top and spread using a pastry brush. Layer on 2 more sheets, one at a time, brushing some more egg wash over each.
• Line 1/3 of the lamb filling along one wide edge of the phyllo. Roll pastry up starting from the filling side and place it against the edge of the pan. Brush more egg wash on top.
• Shape and fill 2 more rolls with remaining phyllo, most of the egg wash, and filling. Wrap rolls along and inside the first one, filling the pan, and brush with egg wash. Sprinkle sesame seeds on top.
• Bake in the preheated oven until browned and crisp, 35 to 40 minutes. Let cool for 15 minutes.
• Combine yogurt, mint, lemon juice, and garlic for the yogurt sauce. Mix in enough water to achieve desired consistency for dipping. Season with salt and cayenne. Cut borek into wedges and serve with yogurt sauce.

BUREK

Steps:

• Preheat an oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
• Brown ground beef in a large non-stick skillet over medium heat, 5 to 7 minutes. Drain fat; stir in allspice, paprika, salt, and pepper. Transfer beef to a large bowl and stir in potato and onion.
• Unroll phyllo pastry and transfer 2 sheets to a work surface; stack sheets. Spoon 1/8th of the ground beef mixture down one long edge of the phyllo pastry. Roll phyllo into a tube, encasing beef. Shape the tube into a coil (snail shape). Place the roll on an ungreased baking sheet; brush with melted butter. Repeat, placing finished rolls up against one another to keep them from unrolling.
• Bake burek in the preheated oven until golden brown, 20 to 30 minutes.

SERBIAN BEEF BUREK (BUREK SA MESOM)

Steps:

• Gather the ingredients.
• In a large skillet, sauté the onion and ground chuck over medium heat until the meat is no longer pink and the onions are translucent.
• Drain in a colander .
• Return the meat-onion mixture to skillet and add the parsley, salt, and pepper and cook for 1 minute, mixing thoroughly. Remove from heat and let cool to room temperature.
• Lightly coat a 9 x 13-inch pan with cooking spray . Separate the phyllo dough into 2 piles (approximately 10 to 14 sheets each) and keep covered so they don't dry out. Half will go on the bottom of the pie and half will go on the top.
• Place 2 sheets in the prepared pan and brush lightly with oil, folding in any overhanging edges. Add 2 more sheets and brush with oil. Continue until you've used one pile of phyllo.
• Spread the cooled ground chuck mixture evenly over the phyllo, pushing up to the edges. Begin covering the meat with the remaining phyllo, again using 2 sheets at a time and brushing with oil. Continue until all of the phyllo is used.
• Brush the entire top lightly with oil. Using a serrated knife and a sawing motion, cut burek all the way to the bottom into 12 squares.
• In a medium bowl, mix the eggs with the yogurt and soda water . Pour over the burek. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2 hours.
• Preheat the oven to 350 F. Remove the plastic wrap and bake for 45 to 55 minutes, or until golden brown. Cool slightly before serving.

BOREK (TURKISH MEAT ROLLS)

Steps:

• Brown meat in pan at medium-hi heat.
• Drain and transfer browned meat to a medium bowl to cool.
• When the meat has cooled crumble cheese and add to the meat.
• Add the parsley, garlic thyme and pepper and mix well.
• Let this sit for 30 minutes.
• In a small bowl beat the egg with water to make an egg wash.
• Working quickly now, so the phyllo does not dry out.
• Take 1 sheet phyllo dough brush or spray with olive oil, place another sheet on top and brush or spray again.
• Cut the two sheets into six rectangles.
• Take a good tablespoon of meat mix and place it about an 1 ½" to 2 inches up from one of the corners of the rectangle.
• Lift the corner of the pastry and fold over the meat mixture, then lift and fold the corner on the right and then left to make and envelope about 3- 4 inches wide, then roll up to top.
• Repeat for the next five pieces.
• Brush with egg wash.
• Heat some of the olive oil in a heavy pan a fry the meat rolls, turning to brown on all sides, lightly flatten them with spatula while frying.
• Repeat the dough and rolling with the rest of the dough sheets.
• These are also very nice cold.
• I sometimes use a Tzatziki sauce for dip or mint sauce if using lamb.