Banitza Bulgarian Phyllo Dough With Feta Food

SIMPLE BULGARIAN BANITSA

Steps:

• 1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees, ( glass pyrex pan works great for this recipe) brush melted butter all over bottom amd sides of baking pan.
• 2. Mix salt, cheese and milk and eggsin a bowl , combine and stir ingredients well.
• 3. Put down 5 sheets of phyllo dough down in buttered pan and brush over with melted butter. You can also put down one sheet at a time and butter seperatelly.
• 4. Pour enough of the mixture to cover phyllo sheets and top with 3 more sheets.
• 5. Continue to repeat the process: put down 3 sheets and make sure to brush them well with butter then layer with mixture until all of the mixture is done, then cover with atleast 2 sheets. I preffer not to butter the top sheets as they tend to get very hard after the banitsa is done baking.
• 6. Bake for 25-35 minutes or until golden, make sure mixture is cooked in the middle by cutting into banitsa. When the mixture is cooked it will not be runny.
• 7. Once banitsa is done cover it with either a towell or the lid to the pan and let it sit and cool before cutting it or serving. Covering it lets the steam soften the phyllo dough sheets.

BANITZA (BULGARIAN PHYLLO DOUGH WITH FETA)

Steps:

• Whisk eggs and add feta cheese broken in crumbs. Whisk mixture. In a separate cup, mix the yogurt and baking soda and keep mixing until it rises, then add to the eggs/feta mixture. Heat up the butter in a small pan. Filo dough - make sure you're working with the filo dough in room temperature. Once the package is open, you need to work quickly because the sheets dry up really fast. Take each sheet and lay it in a greased pan, pour a little bit of the butter and a little of the yogurt mixture. Then add a second sheet and repeat. Continue doing until all of the egg mixture has been used up. Cover with a final 2 layers of filo and butter. Cut up in pieces and pour in the remaining butter. Bake at 350F for about 25min or until golden.

BANITSA WITH WHITE CHEESE (BULGARIAN BANITSA WITH PHYLLO PASTRY)

Steps:

• 1. Cheese filling preparation: Beat the eggs and the pinch of baking soda, than add crumbed (or crushed) white cheese and then the yoghurt.
• 2. Spiral Banitsa (Vita Banitsa)/ Traditional preparation.
• 3. Use a round pan +-40cm diameter (the bigger the better).
• 4. Take 12 pastry sheets (phyllo pastry).Grease bottom of a pan with butter.
• 5. Spread a sheet, put a 2-3 small cubes of butter (or margarine), and spread the filling. Roll the sheet and place it in the middle of the pan (as a beginning of the spiral).
• 6. Do all the sheets the same way and join it with the end of the first sheet, making your spiral bigger and bigger.
• 7. When you out the last sheet and finish the spiral and fill the pan pore a tea cup of milk over the spiral.
• 8. Bake in moderate oven (180 ºC) for 45-50 minute
• 9. When it is ready take it out of the oven and brush with water the surface and cover with a cloth until it cools down.
• 10. Serve with an extra small bowl of plain yoghurt.
• Or (lazy way of preparation).
• 1. Take 12 pastry sheets (phyllo).Grease bottom of a pan with butter, no need of a round pan.
• 2. Place the first 3 sheets, spread the top sheet with butter, and spread first 1/3rd of the filling.
• 3. Place 2 more sheets and brush with butter spread 2nd third of the filling.
• 4. Top with 2 more sheets and brush with butter and spread last third of the filling.
• 5. The top last layer of filling cover with last sheets.
• 6. Cut in 9 or 12 squares and pore 1 cup of milk.
• 7. Bake in moderate oven (180 ºC) for 45-50 minute
• 8. When it is ready take it out of the oven and brush with water the surface and cover with a cloth until it cools down.
• 9. Serve with an extra small bowl of plain yoghurt.