Banitsa
Coiled filo with a filling of brined white cheese, egg and yoghurt, baked until the outer spiral shatters and the inside stays soft. Best eaten warm, in the hand, with a glass of ayran.
About this dish
Banitsa is the pastry of the Bulgarian table — breakfast, feast day and funeral alike. At New Year a coil is baked with paper fortunes tucked between the layers, and whoever finds the one reading zdrave — health — is thought to have the best of the year. The cheese that defines it, sirene, is brined and sharp rather than creamy; it is the salt in it that keeps the filling from tasting merely rich.
- Vegetarian
- Not vegan because of Sirene (Bulgarian brined white cheese), Eggs, Full-fat natural yoghurt, Unsalted butter
- Contains gluten because of Filo pastry sheets
- Contains dairy because of Sirene (Bulgarian brined white cheese), Full-fat natural yoghurt, Unsalted butter
Ingredients
- 500gFilo pastry sheets
- 400gSirene (Bulgarian brined white cheese)
- 4piecesEggs
- 250gFull-fat natural yoghurt
- 80gUnsalted butter
- 3tbspSunflower oil
- 1tspBicarbonate of soda
- 100mlWater
Instructions
Crumble the sirene into a bowl — leave some pieces the size of a pea rather than working it to a paste. Beat 3 of the eggs with the yoghurt, stir the bicarbonate into the yoghurt and wait for it to foam, then fold everything together.
5 minTip: Bicarbonate in the yoghurt is the trick that keeps the filling light. The acid in the yoghurt sets it fizzing at once, so mix and use it — do not let it stand.
Melt the butter with the sunflower oil and let it cool to lukewarm. Brush a 28 cm round tin.
5 minTip: Butter alone browns too fast at these baking times; the oil raises the smoke point so the pastry crisps instead of scorching.
Lay out one filo sheet, brush it lightly with the butter mixture, and spread a line of filling along one long edge. Roll it into a loose rope — loose, not tight. Repeat with the remaining sheets.
12 minTip: Loose rolling leaves air between the turns, and that air is what makes banitsa flaky. Rolled tight, it bakes into a dense bread.
Coil the first rope into the centre of the tin and wind the rest around it in a spiral, leaving a finger's width between the turns. Brush the top with the last of the butter.
5 minTip: The gaps matter: the ropes swell as they bake, and without room they push each other up and out of the tin.
Beat the last egg with 3 tablespoons of yoghurt and pour it evenly over the coil. Bake at 180 °C for 40–45 minutes until deep golden and crisp on top.
40 minTip: This wash is what gives banitsa its lacquered top. Pour it over the whole surface, not just the centre, or the outer spiral bakes pale.
Sprinkle the hot banitsa with a little water and cover it with a cloth for 15 minutes before serving. Cut into wedges and eat warm.
15 minTip: Sprinkling and covering seems to undo the crisping, but it is what softens the very top layer just enough to cut cleanly rather than shatter.