I was thinking to share this recipe for sometimes. After another great success on last Friday night at our neighbours' house warming party(every guests loved it literally! ) I think it's the time to share this recipe. It is extremely easy version this cheese pie. In Turkish cuisine this cheese pie its called as 'peynirli borek' and we generally make with yufka(dry pastry leaves), feta cheese, parsley and some seasoning. My version is with Middle Eastern flat bread which is easier to find at any Middle eastern food grocery shop in the UK.
Ingredients for Peynirli Borek
1 pack of middle eastern flat bread(generally 3-4 flat bread in a pack)
300 gr Feta cheese (could be substitute half quantity feta and half fresh mozzarella cheese)
big bunch of Parsley(could be substitute with coriander or dill), chopped
2 medium eggs
150ml milk
100ml olive oil
Sesame or nigella seed for topping
Heat the oven 175C
First drop little amount of olive oil into baking tray and brush it all around. Then put two flat bread slices as covering to whole tray edge. Preferably leave a little amount of flat bread hanging out from edge of the tray(like in below picture)
Sprinkle 300gr feta cheese like in above picture. Then sprinkle on top chopped parsley(or any other herb) then add a little bit seasoning. Keep in mind don't put extra salt as feta cheese will be salty enough. Sprinkle little bit olive oil. Cover with another layer of flat bread. Fold the edges inside the tray.
In a bowl crack two eggs and whisk lightly add milk and olive oil and mix well. Pour the batter over the pastry and make sure every part covered with batter. Sprinkle some nigella seeds or sesame seeds on top. Then put into heated oven for 20-25 minutes. After baked you can serve immediately as hot or could be served as cold as well. It's ideal for lunch to serve with Greek salad or any seasonal salad. Specially in summer ideal to serve with watermelon. If there is any leftover keep it in airtight container and in the fridge. Whenever time to serve just heat in a saucepan over small fire 5-10 minutes or for a 2-3 minutes at very low temperature in the microwave.
As an alternative instead of cheese filling grated and cooked potato filling or cooked mince meat with some sultanas could be used.
Enjoy your peynirli borek!
Chef Tulay
I love pesto sauce not only using for pasta but also for spreading on the toasted slice of bread. Instead of butter or mayo spread it's more healthier and delicious. Generally well suits with tomato, grilled aubergine, courgette slices or cheese or salami slices. Normally you can create your very bespoke pesto sauce with any kind of fresh herbs such as basil, coriander, parsley, rocket and nuts/seeds(pumpkin, sunflower) mixes.
Yesterday I have prepared couple of different pesto recipes which I am going to share here:
1. Coriander and Pine nuts Pesto:
- a bunch of coriander
- 100 gr pine nuts
- 50 ml olive oil
- pinch of salt
- pinch of pepper
Chop off the stalk of the coriander. Wash and drain then put in the blender with olive oil. Mix well. Then add pine nuts and blend for another 3-4 minutes. If you prefer the nuts more chunky still 2-3 minutes mixing will be enough. Add the seasoning and mix for a 1-2 minute. Then your homemade Coriander and Pine nuts Pesto is ready to use.
2. Parsley and Pumpkin Seeds Pesto
- a bunch of Parsley
- 100 gr pumpkin seeds
- 50ml olive oil
- pinch of salt
- pinch of pepper
Similar process like previous recipe. Chop off the stalk of the parsley. After washing and drain it put into blender with olive oil. Mix until it became a paste. Then add the pumpkin seeds and blend together for a 3-4 minutes. Add the seasoning. You might add a bit of extra olive oil if the paste seems a bit dry. Now the sauce is ready to use it.
3. Roasted Red Peppers and Cashew nuts Pesto
- 200-300gr Roasted Red peppers
- 100gr cashew nuts
- 50ml olive oil
- 1 teaspoon chilly flakes
- pinch of salt
- pinch of pepper
I used ready roasted red peppers but if you are not having ready to use then you have to roast the peppers in the oven for about 25-30 mins at 250C. Then take the skin and the seeds off the pepper. put in the blender add olive oil, chilly flakes then blend for 3 minutes. Then add cashew nuts with seasoning and mix another 3-4 minutes. Depends on your palate you can add more chilly or seasoning for strong flavour.
All the sauces should keep in airtight jar and in the fridge. As long as the jar is tightly closed the sauces can be used up to a month or two. Here are mine sauces ready to use :-)
Bon appetit!
Chef Tulay :-)
