This cheese bourekas is made with puff pastry and filled with a delish cheese mixture that contains feta, ricotta, and mozzarella. Topped with egg wash and sesame seeds, baked to perfect golden brown color, has a flakey texture and will melt in your mouth.
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Why this recipe works
- Made with a delish cheese filling and has a flakey texture.
- Extremely easy to make.
- Perfect to make when you need a quick appetizer.
- Made with simple ingredients.
- Paired with hard-boiled eggs and grated tomatoes, these make a tasty savory breakfast.
What are bourekas?
Bourekas are savory pastries that are made with either puff pastry or phyllo pastry. There are a few popular fillings to stuff bourekas with. The most popular fillings are cheese, potato, mushrooms, pizza sauce and cheese, spinach, and cheese.
Bourekas are usually topped with egg wash and sesame seeds. Baked to golden brown and crispy.
Ingredients
Before you start to make this recipe, measure and prepare your ingredients so the cooking process will go smoothly and easily.
Frozen puff pastry- we use store-bought frozen puff pastry, we find it the easiest and fastest to work with. If you want to use a homemade puff pastry, that will work great as well.
Ricotta cheese- use your favorite brand of ricotta cheese.
Mozarella- we used store-bought grated mozzarella cheese, but you can use fresh mozzarella cheese, or grate it yourself.
Feta cheese- use a block of feta cheese. use your favorite brand of feta cheese.
Salt- we like to use kosher salt for this recipe.
Black pepper- for flavor.
Eggs- you will need 2 large eggs for this recipe, one for the filling and one for the egg wash. Make sure that your eggs are at room temperature.
Sesame seeds- we like to top the bourekas with egg wash and sesame seeds.
Instructions
Preheat an oven to 200c (400f), and let your puff pastry thaw for about 30-40 minutes or until it's easy to work with.
Lightly flour a clean surface and use a rolling pin to roll the puff pastry slightly and cut it into 6 even squares using a pizza cutter.
Make the cheese filling: In a medium mixing bowl, add the feta cheese, ricotta cheese, large egg, and grated mozzarella. Add salt and pepper and mix until a creamy mixture forms.
Using a small cookie scoop or a tablespoon, place the cheese mixture on top of the puff pastry, bring two edges together, and seal the edges with a fork. Repeat with the rest of the bourekas.
Place the bourekas on a parchment-lined baking sheet keeping them about 1 inch apart.
Mix 1 egg with a tablespoon of water, brush it on top of the bourekas, and sprinkle sesame seeds on top (optional). Bake at 200c (400f) for about 20 minutes until golden brown. Keep an eye on them so they won't burn.
Serve with freshly grated tomatoes, hard-boiled egg, and freshly made Israeli salad.
Expert tips:
- Use room temperature ingredients. It is important that you use room-temperature ingredients like eggs. This step ensures that your mixture mixes into a homogenous mixture and bakes perfectly. you don’t want to place cold batter into the oven.
- Feel free to make these in whatever size you'd like. You can make these smaller or bigger. We cut ours into 12 turnovers.
- Keep an eye on the pastries when they are baking! They are easy to burn.
- If you have a cookie scoop, use it to scoop out the filling to the pastries so they will bake evenly.
- Make these pastries your own by adding or topping them with your favorite flavors. Add a teaspoon of jam, spinach, mushrooms, etc...
Faq's
The most delicious way in my opinion to serve these pastries is with a hard-boiled egg on the side, and freshly grated tomatoes with zhug.
This cheese pastry will last up to 3 days at room temperature. Cover them with plastic wrap or foil to prevent them from drying out. We recommend reheating them in the toaster oven to get them crispy again!
Yes! You can use any puff pastry that you have available.
Storing
It’s okay to store these at room temperature. Make sure that you store it in an airtight container so it won’t dry out.
Freezing
Freeze these after they are cooled completely in an airtight freezer-friendly container for up to 2 months.
Another way to freeze these is to make the filling and make the pastry triangles, and before baking, place the unbaked bourekas in an airtight container or in a ziplock bag, and freeze for up to 2 months.
When you are ready to bake, take them out of the freezer on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet, brush egg wash on top, and sesame seeds, and bake at a 200c (400f) preheated oven for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.
Substitutions
Dairy free- make this dairy-free by swapping the cheeses with vegan cheese!
Variations
Add-ins- Bourekas can be made in so many ways. We like to change it up and add different flavors and fillings. Here are a few ideas for different add-ins:
- Spinach
- Garlic
- Mushrooms
- Caramelized onions.
- Meat.
- Shredded chicken.
- Pesto.
- Sun-dried tomatoes.
- Brie cheese.
- Parmesan cheese.
- Eggplant.
More Israeli recipes
Moist honey cake- This honey cake is moist, rich in flavor, and full of spices that will make your house smell like autumn. This honey cake is definitely a family favorite.
Date roll cookies- These date roll cookies are my favorite cookies of all time! These are made with buttery shortcrust pastry, filled with date paste, cinnamon, and chopped walnuts, topped with powder sugar that makes these cookies irresistible.
Chocolate babka- This chocolate babka is made by making a decedent brioche-like bread and filling it with rich chocolate filling made with dark chocolate, butter, powder sugar, and cocoa powder, topped with simple sugar syrup.
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📖 Recipe
Cheese Bourekas (Cheese Pastry)
Ingredients
- 2 sheets Puff pastry
- 1 Egg llarge
- 200 g Ricotta
- 150 g Feta cheese
- 150 g Mozzarella grated
- ½ teaspoon Kosher salt
- â…“ teaspoon Black pepper
Instructions
- Preheat an oven to 200c (400f), and let your puff pastry thaw for about 30-40 minutes or until it's easy to work with.
- Lightly flour a clean surface and use a rolling pin to roll the puff pastry slightly and cut it into 6 even squares using a pizza cutter.
- Make the cheese filling: In a medium mixing bowl, add the feta cheese, ricotta cheese, large egg, and grated mozzarella. Add salt and pepper and mix until a creamy mixture forms.
- Using a small cookie scoop or a tablespoon, place the cheese mixture on top of the puff pastry, bring two edges together, and seal the edges with a fork. Repeat with the rest of the bourekas.
- Place the bourekas on a parchment-lined baking sheet keeping them about 1 inch apart.
- Mix 1 egg with a tablespoon of water, brush it on top of the bourekas, and sprinkle sesame seeds on top (optional). Bake at 200c (400f) for about 20 minutes until golden brown. Keep an eye on them so they won't burn.
- Serve with freshly grated tomatoes, hard-boiled egg, and freshly made Israeli salad.
Notes
- Use room temperature ingredients. It is important that you use room-temperature ingredients like eggs. This step ensures that your mixture mixes into a homogenous mixture and bakes perfectly. you don’t want to place cold batter into the oven.
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