This giveaway is now closed. Congratulations to the winners: Lori A., Teri G., and Betty P.
I love dairy. And I love carbs.
And oh my goodness, I love dairy and carbs together.
Which is why when I lived in Israel, my absolute favorite indulgence was a cheese bourekas from Angel Bakery.
It’s been five years since I lived in Israel – and I have yet to experience that same deliciousness. But this recipe, from the new cookbook, Jewish Traditional Cooking by Ruth Joseph, looks like it might just do the trick.
And wouldn’t it be perfect for Shavuot?!
The Perfect Bourekas
Makes about 40 bourekas
Ingredients
2 16-oz packs of phyllo dough
2–3 tablespoons olive oil, for brushing
1 egg, to glaze
sesame or poppy seeds, to sprinkle
For the cheese filling
4 oz (1 cup) soft white cheese, such as ricotta, mozzarella, or feta
8 oz stronger cheese, such as Gouda or pecorino
1 large egg
2 tablespoons natural yogurt
salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the potato filling
1 cup mashed potato
1⁄2 cup fresh dill, finely chopped
1⁄2 cup fresh flat-leaf parsely, finely chopped
salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the spinach filling
2 lb spinach
2 eggs
11⁄2 cups Emmental, Gouda, or mozzarella, grated
salt and freshly ground black pepper
finely grated nutmeg
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F and line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Ensure that the dough is defrosted and ready to use.
First prepare the fillings. Grate or chop the cheeses for the cheese filling and combine with the egg, yogurt, and seasoning in a bowl. Set aside. Season the mashed potato with the herbs and salt and pepper, and set aside. To make the spinach filling, wash the spinach and wilt in a large pan over medium heat. Drain in a colander and squeeze out all the moisture with the back of a spoon.
Leave to cool. Roughly chop the spinach, and combine with the eggs and cheese. Season with salt, pepper, and a little nutmeg.
To assemble the bourekas, remove two sheets of phyllo dough from the stack and cover the rest with a damp cloth to stop them drying out. Place the sheets of dough on top of each other, cut into strips 6 inches wide and brush with olive oil. Place a tablespoon of filling in one corner, fold over the corner at an angle to form a triangle, and then wrap up tightly to form a neat little triangular parcel. Repeat with the rest of the dough and fillings.
Place the filled bourekas on your prepared baking sheets, glaze on both sides with beaten egg, and sprinkle generously all over with sesame or poppy seeds. Bake in the oven for 15–20 minutes until golden brown.
Variations
Include slivers of brie instead of soft white cheese, or some chopped nuts or roasted peppers for extra flavor. To liven up the potato filling, add a handful of chopped olives, a tablespoon of pesto sauce, or some sliced and cooked mushroom.
If you’d like to see more recipes like these, you’re in luck! I am giving away three copies of Jewish Traditional Cooking: Over 150 Nostalgic & Contemporary Recipes (retail value: $29.95).
Here’s how to enter this giveaway:
Required Entry: Leave a comment on this post with the dish you most like to cook for Shavuot (For eg., I like to make eggplant parmesan — and bourekas!) This is a required entry form, so make sure you do this first.
Optional Entry: Pin or repin this recipe on Pinterest — then let me know you have done so by leaving a separate comment.
This giveaway will be open until Wednesday, May 1st at 11:59 p.m. CST. The winners must be at least 18 years of age and live in the United States (sorry, folks!). They will be selected randomly and notified by email immediately. Good luck!
Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy of the Jewish Traditional Cooking cookbook. The publisher will provide each of the three winners with their copy as well. I was not compensated in any other way to host this giveaway.
Photo Courtesy of the Jewish Traditional Cooking
Cheesecake (any variety) and blintzes
I miss my grandma’s blintzs !
veggie lasagna!
I like to make salmon. (lactose intolerant!)
I’ve only been making Shavuot for two years, but my absolute favorite thing to make is cheesecake! Especially oreo cheesecake. Yum!
I love to make cheesecake and strawberry soup
We do eggplant parm for every holiday. On Shavuot specifically we always make a blintze souffle.
Har Sinai Ice-Cream Cake
I pinned! This would so awesome to pass down to my daughter!
I repinned the Boreka Recipe. I like making Baked ziti, Lasagna and homemade Cheesecake with cream cheese,sour cream and farmer cheese with a homemade whole wheat crust and topping it with cherries, blueberries or strawberries.
i love to make cheesecake!
Tortilla/taco soup. Easy, easily altered, can make a lot at once, and it’s deelish!
I love to make cheese cake
Oops…Blintz Souffle!
The borek as sound perfect!
Pasta with alfredo or vodka sauce
Cold yogurt soup with spinach and herbs
Cheesecake
Cheesecake! and grilled cheese, and tomato pie, and baked ziti.
I love to make french onion soup!
chocolate mint cheesecake
I eat dairy all the time but that doesn’t mean we don’t have special treats for Shavout, especially for dessert. A luscious dessert is triple chocolate cheese cake, we love strawberry romaine salad, and have a pasta we learned in Italy.
I love Shavuos cooking ;it’s such a nice change of pace ! My favorite thing is cheesecake-I’m always trying new ones.
Baked Ziti
Shavuot is my all-time FAVORITE holiday!!! I’m such a cheese-milk-DAIRY lover!!!
My favorite recipe to make is my Bubbe’s cheese cake recipe. It’s not fluffy and light, but rather it’s super dense and creamy… Mouth is salivating just thinking about it!!
I would love this cookbook, perfect for Shavuot!
Pinned it!
Let’s switch it up a bit and make cheesy potato pierogies with caramelized onions and tomato sauce. YUM in the TUM.
My fav thing to make for Shavuot is spinach pie!
Cheese cake-dietetic of course.
veggie tacos!
We love cheesecake, but I also love to make rhubarb crisp!
A dairy noodle kugel that a friend introduced me to and I absolutely LOVE.
Pinned! 🙂
Pinned!
Pinned this recipe too.
I love to make cheese blintzes!!
I love to make all kinds of cheesecake!
Cheesecake, of course!!
cheesecake and quiche!!
love cheesecake! .. well, maybe, I better make a healthy dinner, too!
cheesecake.
The bourekas look delicious! We’re thinking of making them for Shavuot.
I assume my traditional ice cream sundae bar won’t count, so I’ll suggest my fried rice balls stuffed with cheese.
I’d make cheese blintzes!
pinned it 🙂
we always have one Shavous lunch ‘breakfast’ style – eggs, pancakes or waffles, bagels and cream cheese. Its always a lot of fun and the kids love it.
Homemade ice cream, Greek salad, Israeli style (no-bake) cheesecake, and frittata. Also, Coke for Coke floats to help keep the gentlemen awake. But those bourekas look mighty good…
Cheesecake and cirniki!
I like to make vetable quiche, chedder cheese soup, and yogurt pie. Lots of dairy!
MMM No bake Cheesecake!
Repinned 🙂
I like quiche!