Borekas Stuffed with Cheese & Spinach
Submitted by Kaz
Flaky, golden borekas filled with cheesy mashed potato or garlicky spinach, brushed with egg wash and topped with sesame seeds. A beloved Israeli and Sephardic pastry that’s worth every fold.
YIELD
12 servingsPREP
60 minCOOK
30 minREADY
90 minIf you’ve ever bitten into a warm boreka at an Israeli bakery, you know the magic: shattering layers of flaky pastry giving way to a savory, molten filling.
This recipe gives you two classic stuffings to choose from. The cheese version is built on mashed potato blended with grated cheddar and egg. The spinach filling cooks down with garlic and butter, brightened with a squeeze of lemon.
The dough itself is a simple oil-and-lemon-juice pastry that gets layered with margarine through a series of rolls and folds, creating those signature flaky sheets without the fuss of traditional puff pastry.
Cut into squares, fill them, fold into triangles, brush with beaten egg, and scatter sesame seeds over the top. They bake until deeply golden and puffed.
Makes 12 pastries, and they go fast. Consider doubling.
Variations
- Mixed Filling: Use half a teaspoon of each filling per boreka for the best of both worlds.
- Feta Swap: Replace the cheddar with crumbled feta for a more traditional Sephardic flavor.
- Puff Pastry Shortcut: Use store-bought puff pastry if you’re short on time. No judgment.
Kitchen Tips
- Keep the dough cold between rolling sessions. Warm dough loses its flakiness.
- Pinch the triangle edges firmly. Any gaps and the filling will leak during baking.
- These freeze beautifully before baking. Arrange on a sheet pan, freeze solid, then transfer to a bag. Bake from frozen, adding a few extra minutes.
Ingredients
Directions
DOUGH: Prepare dough by mixing flour, oil, lemon juice, water and salt.
Sprinkle a handful of flour on a board and roll out the dough.
Spread the margarine over the dough.
Fold dough into thirds. Refrigerate for half hour, and then roll dough out again.
Fold in thirds and return to refrigerator.
Repeat rolling, folding, and refigerating 1 more time, then roll dough out into a large thin rectangle.
For Cheese Stuffing, mash the potatos, egg, grated cheese and margarine.
Mix well.
For Spinach Stuffing, cook the spinach in the water that clings to its leaves garlic in the butter, then chop fine and add to spinach.
Add lemon juice, salt and pepper and mix well.
To ASSEMBLE: Cut the dough into 3-inch sqaures.
Place 1 teaspoon cheese or spinach stuffing (or ½ teaspoon of each) on each square, fold dough in half to form a triangle, and pinch edges to seal well.
Brush each filled square with the beaten egg and sprinkle with the sesame seeds.
Bake in a preheated 350℉ (180℃). (moderate) oven until golden--approximately 30 minutes.
Makes 12 pastries.
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