Recipes · Bosnian · Pies

Burek (Bosnian Meat Pie in Hand-Stretched Pastry)

One serving has 708 kcal and 29 g protein, and at least a fifth of a woman's daily need of cobalamin (100%), selenium (81%), niacin (71%), zinc (70%), thiamin (64%) and riboflavin (53%). Ready in 130 minutes.

• Preparation: 85 min
• Cooking: 45 min
• Makes: 1 serving (324 g)
• Difficulty: Hard
• Diets: Dairy-free
• Contains: beef, gluten

Ingredients

• 80 g Flour, all-purpose
• 65 g Water, lukewarm
• 18 g Sunflower oil
• 110 g Minced beef
• 50 g Onions, raw
• 0.3 g Black pepper
• 1 g Salt

Method

1. Mix the flour with half the salt, add most of the water and a few drops of the oil, and knead for 10 minutes into a smooth, soft dough that no longer sticks. Shape it into balls, coat them with oil, cover and leave to rest for at least 30 minutes: rested dough stretches without tearing.
2. Meanwhile, chop the onion very finely and knead it into the minced beef with the pepper, the rest of the salt and a splash of the water, until it holds together. In Bosnia the meat goes into the pastry raw.
3. Cover a table with a clean cloth and dust it with flour. Roll a ball of dough into a round, brush it with oil, then lift it on the backs of your hands and stretch it from the middle outwards, working round, until it is as thin as paper and hangs over the table's edges. Tear off the thick rim; small holes don't matter.
4. Drizzle the sheet with oil. Lay a line of meat along the edge nearest you and, lifting the cloth, roll the pastry over it into a long roll about 4 cm thick.
5. Coil the roll into a snail in an oiled round baking tin (tepsija), starting from the middle; carry on the coil with the rolls made from the other balls of dough and the rest of the meat. Brush the top with oil.
6. Bake at 220 °C for 40-45 minutes, until deep golden and crisp.
7. Sprinkle the hot burek with a few spoonfuls of hot water, cover it with a clean cloth and leave it for 10 minutes, so the crust softens a little. Cut into wedges and serve warm with sour milk (kiselo mlijeko) or yogurt. In Bosnia only the meat pie is burek: with cheese it is sirnica, with potato krompiruša, with spinach zeljanica.

Nutrition per serving

Shares of a day's need are for a woman of 30, 165 cm, 60 kg, lightly active, by the US and Canadian Dietary Reference Intakes. SustainBite works out each person's own needs, by the standard where they live: the Nordic Nutrition Recommendations in Norway, the UK's, EFSA's in the EU.

Climate footprint

4.1 kg CO2e a serving: higher than most main dishes on SustainBite. Source: ADEME, Agribalyse 3.2.

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