My mouth-watering boreks, stuffed with delicious spinach-and-feta filling, are easy to prepare with ready-made filo pastry and taste like a pure delight! Spinach and feta fried boreks are best served straight out of the pan for breakfast, as a light lunch or snack. They are wonderfully crunchy on the outside and juicy on the inside. Simply irresistible!

Where did the recipe for Spinach & feta fried boreks originate?

This recipe comes from the south of Bulgaria, where the cooking traditions are influenced by Turkish cuisine. These boreks resemble the Turkish gozleme, a stuffed Turkish flatbread. Similar recipes are popular also in other parts of the Balkans as well.

HISTORY OF THE BOREK.

The word borek comes from Turkish and refers to any dish made with yufka. Yufka is the Turkish name for filo pastry. And, even though boreks are believed to originate in the Middle East, they are deeply rooted in the Balkan cuisines and are considered iconic Balkan dishes.

VARIATION OF BOREK RECIPES.

Boreks differ not only in ingredients but in shape and methods for preparation and cooking.

Some recipes require baking the boreks in a wood-fired oven, others baking them in a regular oven or frying them.

In terms of ingredients, Balkan savoury boreks come in a variety of fillings. There are authentic local recipes with spinach, leek, nettle, zucchini, eggplant, potatoes and garden peas.

Traditional sweet borek variations are made with pumpkin or sweetened milk. Some contemporary borek recipes call for apple or sour cherries.

Meat boreks typically contain lamb.

I love Fried Spinach and Feta boreks! Especially when they are made with homemade pastry. My granny used to make them for me when I was a child. The taste of the store-bought filo boreks is not exactly the same, but they taste pretty good too. And, they are much easier to make!

MORE RECIPES WITH FILO PASTRY ON MY BLOG:

• Balkan-Style Pumpkin Pie with Filo (Tikvenik)
• Balkan-Style Feta Filo Pie (Banitsa)
• Easy Cigar-Shaped Boreks (Purichki)
• Vegan Walnut & Squash Filo Pie

HOW TO MAKE FRIED SPINACH & FETA BOREKS?

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📋 INGREDIENTS IN MY SPINACH & FETA BOREKS

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Filo Pastry: The bureks taste great when they are made with homemade pastry, but that takes time and skill. This is an easy recipe prepared with ready-made pastry sheets.

Feta: Use feta that is not too soft. It’s easier to make it into crumbs.

Spinach: Although using frozen spinach in this recipe is possible, I always use fresh spinach, just out of habit. Also, frozen spinach gets a bit mushy.

Eggs: For the best taste, use fresh free-range eggs.

Butter or oil: You can use melted butter or oil to brush the pastry sheets. Butter may make your boreks a bit oily, but the flavours are divine. For frying the boreks, it’s best to use cooking oil.

📖 STEP-BY-STEP INSTRUCTIONS

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Step 1: MAKE the spinach-and-feta filling

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In a mixing bowl, whisk the egg until foam forms.

Melt the butter in a saucepan on your hob or in a microwave-safe dish in the microwave.

Wash and place the fresh spinach in a saucepan with boiling water and blanch it for 30-40 seconds. When blanched, transfer the spinach to a colander and rinse it under cold water.

Break the feta with a fork into crumbs. Place all ingredients for the filling in the bowl with the eggs and stir well to combine them.

Step 2: Get ready your filo pastry

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The ready-made pastry is often too thin and can break when folding in the filling. To make sure that does not happen, double the filo pastry.

Broken sheets of filo pastry can be used by placing an undamaged pastry sheet over the damaged one. Always brush the bottom filo sheet with melted butter.

Keep filo pastry that you are not using covered with a damp tea towel because thin pastry dries out very quickly.

Step 3: Assemble the spinach & feta parcels

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Boreks come in many different shapes. In this recipe, you can make the parcels rectangular or triangular.

How to make rectangular or square borek parcels?

You can make one oversized borek with two lined pastry sheets or cut the lined filo pastry sheets in the middle with a sharp knife into two identical pieces and use each piece of pastry to make smaller borek parcels.

Always brush the bottom pastry sheet with a bit of butter when lining it with a second sheet. Then, drizzle the spinach and feta filling lightly over the pastry.

Rectangular borek parcels are easy to make. Fold the pastry in the middle with the filling inside, then fold the open ends or seal them with an egg white.

How to make triangular borek parcels?

1: To make triangular borek parcels, lay a filo pastry sheet on a flat surface with the longer side of the pastry sheet parallel to your body. Brush the filo sheet lightly with melted butter and fold the pastry in the middle lengthwise with the butter inside.

2: Spoon spinach-and-feta filling in the left corner of your filo pastry (image 2), then brush the ends of the filo pastry with egg white.

3: Fold the bottom left corner of the pastry over the filling to form a triangular (image 3). Press with your finger over the sealed end to make sure the pastry sticks together.

4: Fold the pastry with the filling inside to the right and line it with the top end of the flat pastry. Fold the formed borek one more time to the right and line it with the bottom end of the flat pastry.

5: With your next fold to the right, you will cover the last open end of the borek with the flat pastry ( Image 5).

6: Then, you can cut any unused flat pastry left over with a sharp knife or fold it over your borek. Repeat the same until you have used all filo pastry sheets.

Step 4: Fry the spinach & feta boreks

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In a large shallow heavy-based frying pan, heat plenty of cooking oil to a high temperature. Fry the boreks to a golden colour, then turn them with tongs or a slotted turner to cook the other side. When the boreks are ready, take them carefully out of the frying pan and place them over a grid or a few sheets of kitchen paper to drain the oil.

🍲 SERVE THESE DELICIOUS BOREKS

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In Greece, Turkey and neighbouring countries, boreks are traditionally consumed for breakfast or as a snack. They are delicious to eat straight out of the pan with a glass of the traditional Balkan yoghurt drink Ayran.

Enjoy! 👨‍🍳👨‍🍳👨‍🍳