Brought to the country by Sephardic immigrants, Israelis have a serious love affair with the bureka – a savory stuffed pastry that originated in Turkey.

It doesn’t matter where you are – in a coffee shop, a market, a high-tech conference, a kindergarten party, or even a wedding, you’ll find burekas on the menu.

Traditionally filled with bulgarian cheese, spinach, potato, or meat, Israel’s burekas tend to use puff pastry, rather than the more traditional filo pastry used by the Turks.

They’re also surprisingly easy to make. Watch the video to find out how to make a particularly mouthwatering version of burekas stuffed with feta cheese and chard. The full recipe appears below.

Feta Cheese and Chard Burekas

Ingredients:

1 package of butter puff pastry
1 package of feta cheese (250 g)
1 tub of cottage cheese (250 g)
Large bunch of chard leaves, washed and torn into chunks
1 egg
Salt/pepper/granulated garlic to taste
Beaten egg

For garnish, hardboiled egg, pickles and zaatar

Directions:
1. Heat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).

2. Make filling (pulse all ingredients – except the beaten egg — together in food processor), put in piping bag, cut the tip, and set aside.

3. Flour the work surface and roll out the dough.

5. Pipe a line of cheese, roll dough up over the filling twice into a jellyroll shape, and cut. Shape as desired and put on tray.

6. Continue with the rest of the cheese and dough.

7. Brush the top of the burekas with beaten egg.

8. Bake for 35-40 minutes, or until deep golden and cooked on the bottom.

9. Place on a plate, cut into squares and garnish with zaatar, peeled hardboiled egg and pickles on the side.

Executive Producer – Jonathan Baruch
Producer / Director – Haim Silberstein
Chef – Jessica Halfin
Camera – Ari Amit