Patisserie · Balkan

Banitsa

Name: Banitsa
Prep time: 20 min
Total time: 1 h
Yield: 8
Ingredients: 400 g Filo pastry; 400 g Feta cheese; 3 szt Eggs (for filling); 200 g Plain yogurt; 100 g Butter (melted); 1 szt Egg (for brushing); 50 ml Milk

Time

20'

+ 0h 40' chilling

Diff.

easy

Kcal

380

/ serving

Servings

Gather 7 ingredients before cooking

Scale

Units

01 You'll need check when you have it

02 To finish last minute: ~60 min window

Step 01 of 07

Take filo out of the fridge

400 g

Take filo pastry (400 g) out of the fridge 30 minutes before baking. Cold filo cracks when you roll it.

Tip

Keep the package sealed until you use it. Filo dries out in minutes and becomes useless.

Step 02 of 07

Preheat the oven

Set the oven to 180°C°C, top and bottom heat. Line a 26 cm cm cake tin with baking paper.

Step 03 of 07

Make the filling

400 g

3 szt

200 g

Crumble feta cheese (400 g) into a bowl with a fork. Add eggs (for filling) (3 szt) and plain yogurt (200 g). Mix into a chunky, uniform paste.

Tip

Feta is salty — do not add salt to the filling.

Step 04 of 07

Roll the logs

400 g

100 g

400 g

3 szt

200 g

Lay one sheet of filo pastry (400 g) on the counter. Brush it lightly with butter (melted) (100 g). Spread a strip of filling made from feta cheese (400 g), eggs (for filling) (3 szt) and plain yogurt (200 g) along the long edge (about 2 cm from the edge). Roll loosely into a long log. Repeat with the remaining sheets.

Tip

Do not roll tightly — the filling needs room to expand, otherwise the log will burst during baking.

Step 05 of 07

Arrange into a spiral

100 g

Coil the first log into a spiral in the center of the 26 cm cm tin. Attach the next logs end to end, wrapping the spiral outward until the tin is filled. Brush the top with the remaining butter (melted) (100 g).

Step 06 of 07

Bake

Put the banitsa in the oven preheated to 180°C°C. Bake for 35 minutes, until the top is deep golden and crisp.

Step 07 of 07

Pour the wash and rest

1 szt

50 ml

Whisk egg (for brushing) (1 szt) with milk (50 ml). Pour over the hot banitsa right after taking it out of the oven. Cover with a tea towel for 10 minutes.

Tip

Pouring milk and egg over the hot pastry is the Bulgarian standard — it makes the banitsa soft inside instead of dry. Without this step the banitsa is fine, but not what it should be.

Bon appétit

How did it turn out?

Enjoy — now it's a matter of patience and a good table.

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