Burek – Traditional Pie With Meat!

We combine the minced meat pie, with onion and few other ingredients, and then we place the prepared filling on a developed or stretched crust. That would be the definition of burek. This pie is an integral part of the gastronomic culture of the Balkans. What is interesting is that almost everyone adores it. Except for those who haven’t tried it yet or belong to a minority of those who don’t like it for some reason.

Breaking The Ice – Burek

I remember the moment I tried it for the first time. The surprise for the perfect combination of dough and meat was huge and unforgettable. And then, the burek became frequent on my family’s menu. And today, when I have children myself, it’s an indispensable “member” of our kitchen. I always make it at home, (without buying crusts) because only such has a special taste.

By the way, I was 30 years old when I first dared to take a roll in my hands and make a burek myself from start to finish. Why? Because the hardest part is developing and rolling out the dough, you need to master this technique. But even that eventually succeeds and becomes a routine, especially if the desire for this pie is great.

What Is The Burek And Where Does It Come From?

Burek is a specialty of Bosnian cuisine, although the fact is that it comes from Turkey. The Turkish word TUR means to bend. By the way, the burek in Turkey is not only a word for this pie but also other dough dishes. In some countries, all pies – with potatoes, cheese, pumpkin, spinach, pie with butter – burek. Then they ask for the burek with meat, burek with cheese, etc., instead of pie with potatoes, pie with cheese… Both the dough and the filling for the burek must be special, for the burek to be like that.

By the way, they say that this pie is older than Turkey and that the Turks made it in their ancient homeland in Central Asia. In their conquests, the Turks expanded the burek to the Middle East and the Balkans, so Arab Bedouins also participated in the making of burek.

And then the Sephardic Jews took it over, and settled in large numbers in the Ottoman Empire after the Christians expelled them from Spain. To the west, the burek reached the Maghreb countries and came to Italy again with the Sephardim. Only, in Italy, this pie is sweet and is filled with mandarin jam. Thanks to the Tatars, he arrived in the east and conquered a large part of the USSR, thus reaching some northern European cuisines (Lithuanian, Polish).

Types Of Burek

There are several types of this pie – stacked, which is made by rolling the noodles (pieces of developed thin dough) (bending, rolling) but stacking them on top of each other, and placing the filling on each layer of noodles. You can make it bent or rolled in a round pan, putting it in a circle. Also, it’s possible to make rectangles for a pan of such a shape, when you arrange the rows next to each other.

And you can also make zvrkići (I always make it in a rectangular pan) as you can see in the picture and I call them zvrkići or little pie. This pie is most often eaten with yogurt or sour milk. Places where burek and other types of pies are made are called “buregdžinice”.

Interesting

When you type burek into Google, you will get about 5,250,000 results, which speaks best about its popularity, but also about how many recipes, variations, and ways of making it there are. You certainly won’t go wrong with this. Let me know the results. Nice to meet you!

Many say that only burek is made of meat, and everything else are pies. Do you agree?!

Enjoy! ?

If you like this recipe, share it with your friends and (..of course..) pin it for later. ?

Burek - Traditional Pie With Meat!

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How to make the burek?

The crust is first kneaded like a dough and then this dough is rolled out with a rolling pin.

Make the filling, which is then placed on the stretched dough, in the way you choose (stacked, bent, rectangular, pies).

Then bake in an oven preheated to 250 degrees for about 40 minutes. All the details are in the recipe, and you can contact me at any time if something is not clear to you.

Prep Time 1 hour

Cook Time 40 minutes

Total Time 1 hour 40 minutes

Ingredients

• Dough ingredients
• 500 gr. (1/2 kg) flour
• 250 ml of warm water (can be more or less depending on the flour)
• A teaspoon of salt
• A teaspoon of oil
• Ingredients for the filling
• 500 gr. (1/2 kg) minced beef
• Medium-sized onion head (grated or blended)
• Teaspoon of salt
• Pepper to taste
• 1dl. (half a glass) of acidic water (mineral carbonated water)
• Additional ingredient
• An additional ingredient is an oil that is used to sprinkle each crust before placing the filling. So, we put oils as desired on the stretched crust, so that the pie would not be dry, and then we put the meat filling.
• Ingredients for topping
• 3dl. water
• A teaspoon of salt

Instructions

Dough Preparation

Firstly, put flour, a teaspoon of salt, a tablespoon of oil, and water in a bowl. Secondly, mix all the ingredients by hand and make a soft dough that does not stick but is elastic and easy to shape.

When you have finished mixing the dough, then finally cover it with a nylon bag (for the freezer) and let it stand for a while. While the dough is standing, prepare the burek filling.

Also, you can divide the finished dough into several balls, it's better to have more if you are not yet experienced with rolling out the dough. I usually divide the dough into two balls.

Preparation Of The Filling

First, put the meat in a bowl, then add the grated red onion, salt, and pepper, and finally, slowly pour the acidic water. The acidic water will help keep the meat from sticking and will give a juicy note to our burek.

This is a jealously guarded recipe of my parents that I am sharing for the first time. I think that the burek made without mineral water and as finely grated onion as possible, is not the same. If you don't have mineral water, use some regular water mixed with baking soda.

Preparation Of Burek

At the very beginning, it's best to sprinkle flour on the prepared surface (a table on which a base is placed, preferably a tablecloth). It's best to first roll out the dough with a rolling pin in all directions.

Then lift the dough onto a rolling pin and roll out one side and then the other. The dough is removed from the rolling pin and then the other side is stretched, to spread it evenly.

In the end, it can be further stretched on the table (without a rolling pin, preferably by hand) and prepared for filling. We do this by carefully stretching with our hands those parts of the dough that are still thicker, and these are usually the edges of the dough.

Further...

When you prepare the dough, sprinkle a little oil (two to three tablespoons) on the crust and then put the filling on both sides, as shown in the picture.

Of course, cut off the edges of the rest are a little thicker. After that, lightly roll the dough on both sides, make your pies and arrange them in a baking tray, which you have previously coated with oil. Everything is shown in the picture ...

Finally, place the burek in an oven preheated to 250 degrees. Boil the previously prepared pie topping. The moment the burek turns brown put the boiled pie topping and wait a few moments for it to absorb.

Then return the burek to the oven to bake until done, but reduce the temperature a little. Baking time is best determined by yourself, but it is usually done in about 40 minutes.

Notes

Notes

Mineral carbonated water and finely prepared (grated or blended onions) are very important for the filling. Only in this way, the burek will be juicy and different from most recipes, which I think are missing something. If you like the fatter burek, you can increase the amount of oil.

And, If you prefer it to be lean, then don't, because there's enough oil that you can use in this recipe. When or if you fail to roll out the dough the first time, don’t be discouraged. This is normal, no one succeeds the first time. But it will surely be eaten even if it's not perfect, And every next one will be better.

In the end

If the ends of the dough remain thick (and this will certainly happen in the beginning) then tear off the thickening. Apart from this, before you start working with the dough, be sure to take off the rings, bracelets, and all the jewelry that could break your dough.

If you do not know how to roll out the dough with a rolling pin, then put a little more oil in the dough. Also coat the dough balls with oil and cover with nylon. Next, leave it to stand for a while, then roll it out briefly with a rolling pin, and then continue to roll out the dough with your hands.

Still, be careful and work with gentle movements, as if you are smearing the dough and you will surely succeed. Finally, maybe this will help you.

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