Banitsa I
Bulgarian layered cheese pastry made from feta and phyllo dough
Servings: 12
Ingredients
- 1 cup Bulgarian yogurt (or Greek)
- 4 eggs
- 16 oz Bulgarian feta cheese crumbled
- 16 oz ricotta or cottage cheese (optional)
- 1/2 cup butter melted
- ground black pepper
- salt to taste
- 16-20 sheets phyllo dough (thawed if frozen)
Instructions
- Mix yogurt and eggs in a medium bowl, beating until combined.
- Crumble feta into egg mixture. If using additional cheese, add it and stir to combine.
- Season with a little ground pepper and salt (unless your feta is quite salty).
- Grease a half sheet pan or jellyroll pan with melted butter or nonstick spray. Set oven to 375°F.
- Put one layer of phyllo pastry onto pan and brush with melted butter. Add another phyllo sheet and repeat. Do this until you have four buttered layers of phyllo in the pan.
- Pour one third of the egg-cheese mixture onto the top phyllo sheet and carefully spread as evenly as possible over the surface.
- Place four more sheets of phyllo dough on top of the cheese layer, buttering each sheet.
- Pour another third of the egg-cheese mixture onto the top phyllo sheet and carefully spread as evenly as possible over the surface.
- Place four more sheets of phyllo dough on top of the cheese layer, buttering each sheet.
- Pour the last third of the egg-cheese mixture onto the top phyllo sheet and carefully spread as evenly as possible over the surface.
- Top with remaining phyllo sheets, buttering them as before. Fold any stray edges over onto the banitsa in the pan. Pour any remaining butter onto the top and coat the surface well.
- Place banitsa in center of heated oven and bake for about 30 minutes or until golden brown and crispy on top.
- Remove from oven and put down a layer of paper towels on top of the banitsa. Then cover with a kitchen towel and let it sit for 10 minutes.
- Slice and serve warm. Reheat in the oven or microwave to enjoy any time as a snack.