The börek with meat is a typical Turkish preparation widespread throughout the Balkan region. An ancient recipe made with yufka dough, which is our phyllo dough, a very thin, almost transparent puff pastry made mainly with water, flour, and salt. The term börek in Turkish means “to roll”. The three most common fillings are semi-mature cheeses, meat, or a mix of meat, spinach, and cheese, but you can choose based on taste and regional preference. Honestly, after hearing so much about Turkish dishes lately, I wanted to try and taste this preparation. In this recipe, I prepared the börek with meat and some vegetables (Turkish recipe), but not finding traditional yufka and to avoid extending the preparation time significantly, I used ready-made phyllo dough found in supermarkets. I must say the result was so appreciated that I prepared it multiple times in a week… So then, you just have to try it!!
- Difficulty: Medium
- Cost: Economical
- Rest time: 20 Minutes
- Preparation time: 1 Hour
- Portions: 4/6
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: Turkish
Ingredients
- 10.5 oz ready-made phyllo dough
- 1.1 lbs ground beef
- 2 carrots
- 4 medium potatoes (about 1.1 lbs peeled)
- 1 onion
- oil
- salt
- pepper
- 1 egg
- 3.4 tbsp oil
- 3.4 tbsp milk
- butter (for greasing the pan)
Tools
Diameter 11/12 inches
- Baking Pan
- Brush
- Air Fryer Trays
- Air Fryers
Steps
First, clean the vegetables, chop the onion finely, and grate the carrots and potatoes.
In the pan, add the oil and onion, and sauté gently over moderate heat.
Then add the grated vegetables and cook for about 5 minutes.
Next, add the meat and mix it well with the vegetables using a meat grinder or fork.
Cook for about 15 minutes or until it has dried out.
The meat is ready.
Now prepare the sauce with which you will grease each sheet of phyllo dough.
In a small bowl, add the egg, oil, and milk, and whisk to combine the ingredients.
Take the baking pan and grease it with butter.
At this point, start preparing the börek. Take a sheet and brush the sauce on the entire surface, being careful not to soak it excessively as it is very delicate and tends to tear easily.
After greasing the sheet, place the meat along the edge and then roll the sheet over the meat until you reach the other edge, forming a kind of “sausage” slowly.
Then coil the “sausage” into a spiral and place it in the center of the pan.
Continue in the same way with the other sheets until the whole base of the pan is filled, placing each “sausage” around the central one.
Finally, brush the entire surface of the börek with the sauce.
Bake in a preheated ventilated oven at 356° F for 30 minutes or until golden brown.
The meat börek is ready!!
Before cutting it, let it cool for about 15/20 minutes.
Bake at 356° F for about 20 minutes, it should be golden.
Storage
Börek can be stored for 2/3 days in the refrigerator.
Variation
You can fill the börek with only sautéed meat with salt, pepper, onion, and parsley or with feta cheese, ricotta, and parsley, with spinach and cheeses, with potatoes, etc.
Notes
For the size of this pan, 300 g of phyllo dough like the one I found will likely leave you with some extra sheets that you can use to make a smaller one.
