Make Burek

One of the finest cuisines in southeastern Europe is Burek. Burek is a pastry made of thin dough filled with meat, vegetables and spices. If you want to expand your culinary horizon then is definitely worth trying. The only difficulty you might face is learning the technique of stretching and rolling the dough, but with practice you'll soon master the skill. 

Ingredients

• 1 pound (453.5g) of veal
• 2 tablespoons of salt
• 1 tablespoon of pepper
• 1 tablespoon of Vegeta® (a spice and vegetable condiment)
• Vegetable or olive oil (as needed)
• 2 pounds (907g) of flour
• 1 large yellow onion
• 16 fl. ounces (473ml) of water

Steps

Preparing the dough

1. Mix 1 pound (453.5g) of flour and 1 tablespoon of salt in a bowl.
2. Add approximately 16 ounces (473ml) of water to the bowl.
3. Mix until you have a dough of a soft and malleable consistency.
4. Spread a tablecloth across the table.
5. Add a pinch of flour on the area where you will knead the dough.
6. Knead the dough on the tablecloth.
7. Let the dough sit for 15 minutes.

Preparing the filling

1. Dice the veal and onion.
2. Add the diced veal and onion to a bowl.
3. Add the following ingredients to the bowl of veal and onion: 1 tablespoon of salt, 1 tablespoon of Vegeta®, and 1 tablespoon of black pepper.
4. Mix the contents of the bowl.

Shaping the dough

1. Flatten the dough using a rolling pin.
2. Spread vegetable or olive oil on the surface of the flattened dough.
   • Leave the dough to gently rise for about 5 to 10 minutes.
3. Using your hands, stretch the dough carefully.

Preparing Burek

1. Add the diced veal and onion in a row on the flattened dough.
2. Flip the edges of the dough up over the veal and onion.
3. Roll the dough around the diced veal and onion until you have 3-5 layers of dough around each row.
4. Cut away any remaining dough.
5. Make a rough spiral out of each row. Wind the row in a spiral direction from the center out.
6. Place in a pan.
7. Place the pan in the oven and cook at {{safesubst:#invoke:convert|convert}}, for 40-50 minutes.
8. Enjoy.

Tips

• Add oil to the pan so the Burek doesn't stick.
• Substitute farm-fresh cheese or feta for a cheese Burek, or cubed potato with garlic and white pepper for a potato burek.
• If preparing and flattening the dough is a challenge, check your local store for Phyllo dough (you will need to generously coat each layer with butter)
• A properly baked Burek is soft and slightly chewy, not hard and crunchy.
• Get as many rolls as you can from the dough you prepared. You should get about 4-5 pieces of Burek.
• If you do not have Vegeta®, the add 1 more tablespoon of pepper or salt in the bowl of diced veal and onion or visit an international grocery store to obtain Vegeta®.
• Finely shredded cabbage can be added to the meat Burek. The result is similar to a chinese potsticker or eggroll.
• As you stretch the dough, continuously add drops of vegetable or olive oil in order to prevent the dough from ripping.
• Get the dough as thin as possible.

Warnings

• Don't stretch the dough too much or it will rip.

Things You'll Need

• Working area of 5'x3' (12.5cm x 7.5cm) (table space)
• Rolling pin
• Tablecloth
• 2 large bowls

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