BUREK-THE BEST PASTRY IN THE WORLD

Burek is the best pasty food in the world! It's made of pastries filled with ground meat, cheese or spinach and it's found in the cuisines of all Balkan countries that used to be part of the Ottoman Empire. Here is a recipe of burek with ground meat.




Ingredients:
   
   For the dough:
  •    500g. flour
  •    300ml. lukewarm water
  •    1 teaspoon salt
   For the filling:    
  •    400g. mixed minced meat
  •    1 onion
  •    Оil, water, black pepper, dry mixed spice
Preparation:

  1. Маке middle soft non-sticky dough from the dough ingredients. 
  2. Divide the dough into 4 parts and form balls. Brush every ball with oil and leave for 10 minutes.
  3. Roll out a small pastry from every ball with a size of a small shallow bowl. Place every pastry on plates coated with oil and add some oil on top.
  4. To prepare the work surface you need to spread a thin layer of vegetable oil all over it, so make sure you are using something like a stone bench top or laminate.
  5. Take one disc of pastry from the oil, scrape off the oil, then place it onto your oiled work bench. With oiled hands, flatten the disc from the inside to outside until it is about 5 mm thick.


6. Stretch the dough till it becomes so thin that you can see through it. Take one side of the large disc and fold it towards (and just over) the center. Lift and fold 4 more times to form a rough pentagon. 
7. Lift the folded pastry and set it aside as you make and stretch another disc just like the first.
8. Once the second disc is stretched place the first folded one in the center. Take a knife and cut the thicker edge of the second disc away, discarding it. Leaving the thick edge intact will give you clumps of dough in the cooked burek, which you don’t want.
9. Take half of the meat filling and spread it over the folded dough in the center.

10. As you did with the first disc, fold the edges over the meat  mixture to form a rough pentagon. Add the rest of the filling and finish it with the fourth disk. Gently work your fingers underneath the uncooked burek so you can lift it onto a baking pan.
11. Bake for 30 minutes, or until golden. After it comes out from the oven drizzle the top with a little water and oil then cover with a cloth. Allow it to sit, covered, until it cools. This helps it set.

Filling preparation:
Fry the onion in a pan with a little oil and add the minced meat.Add black pepper and mixed spice, a little water and stir until the meat discolored. Don't cook it a lot so it doesn't become dry.Instead of meat you can use other ingredients ... spinach, cheese, chard .... optional.