Banitsa the Bulgarian feta cheese pastry

Banitsa, the Bulgarian feta cheese pastry, is ubiquitous in Bulgarian life. After living in Sofia for nearly a year, banitsa is the first food I missed upon returning home. This is the recipe I wanted to share with the world and the reason I started thinking about writing this blog. In Bulgaria there was a small kiosk outside my apartment building that sold warm banitsa. So I had a ready supply whenever I wanted a taste–which was often. However, I had to get there early because they would sell out daily. I would also find banitsa in other kiosks throughout the city, or sold from vendor windows along the sidewalks, or in cafes, or in people’s homes…as I said, it was ubiquitous.

The perfect snack

Banitsa wasn’t always so commonplace. It really is one of the hero dishes at Christmas. Bulgarians will often bake fortunes (kismets/късмети) into the banitsa. These can be coins, little messages written on paper then wrapped in foil, or other talisman like dogwood twigs with buds on them, the number of buds corresponding to a particular fortunate for the coming year such as wealth, health, travel, etc. But ordinary banitsa without such fortunes is just as much a treat.

What makes something so popular, so common and so readily available crave-worthy? It combines some of the ingredients that make for a truly delicious snack: cheese, salt, crispy dough and butter…lots of butter. Furthermore it keeps really well and can be eaten on the go as a handheld. Banitsa works equally well at breakfast, when Bulgarians often enjoy it with yogurt or boza, for lunch and dinner or any time in between. Of all the recipes on this blog now and to come, this one is probably my all-time favorite.

My favorite version of banitsa the Bulgarian feta cheese pastry

I made this recipe for a bake sale recently and someone said it was “exquisite.” We will explore different variations of banitsa on this blog but I will start with my “go-to” version. I make banitsa 2-3 times per year; usually this is the way I do it. In the recipe box I’ll label this version Banitsa I. The difference between variations is in the shape of the final product not necessarily the filling, but there are variations on that score as well. And of course, you can always attempt to make your own phyllo pastry from scratch but that will be an entirely separate blog post. Today we’ll use store-bought frozen phyllo (or filo) dough. So let’s break down the recipe into parts: the dough, the filling and other considerations (the “etc.”).

The dough

You have two and a half options for banitsa dough: use frozen store-bought phyllo dough, make your own phyllo dough or make a pseudo-dough out of bread. I saw the last option in a Bulgarian cookbook but I’m not sure it really counts as true banitsa so I’m not going to try it. (Bulgarians, please correct me if I’m wrong!). On this blog we’re going to make banitsa using the first two methods. I don’t see anything wrong with using a store-bought phyllo dough. They sell it in Bulgaria too and many people use this short cut without any shame. However the Bulgarian cook takes pride in making homemade phyllo dough (and extra kudos if it’s thin and transparent enough to read a newspaper through). I’ve seen that done and it’s quite impressive!

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Be careful when unrolling your thawed store-bought phyllo dough since it easily cracks (as it did for me). My recipe uses about a half pound of the frozen pastry. Banitsa dough is unleavened (banitsa gets its lift from other ingredients and through technique, which we will discuss). It’s a relatively simple recipe to make from scratch, usually consisting of flour, salt, water, oil and vinegar. It’s not as scary to make as you might think, but it is a process and will extend the total time needed to make your banitsa.

The filling

You have a big choice when it comes to the filling: what kind of cheese will you use? Traditionally you make banitsa with sirene (сирене), which is Bulgarian feta. You can absolutely substitute domestic or Greek feta if you cannot locate imported Bulgarian feta. Fortunately for me, I can buy Bulgarian feta at my local grocery store’s cheese shop–where they sell one variety. Bulgarian feta comes in three varieties: cow’s milk, sheep’s milk and goat’s milk. Mostly likely you’ll need to find a specialty shop to get all three varieties.

I’ve made banitsa using sheep’s milk and cow’s milk feta. I don’t think I’ve ever used the goat’s milk variety. When I do, I’ll make note of it here. My favorite for banitsa is the sheep’s milk feta. In my opinion it has a stronger (and better) flavor in the finished product. I have both cow’s milk and sheep’s milk feta in my fridge now so I should do a side by side taste test sometime. But I really don’t think it matters much which variety you use (you’ll probably find sheep’s milk feta more readily especially if you’re buying Greek).

The other ingredients in most banitsa recipes are melted butter, whole eggs, and milk or yogurt. I’ll show a version of the filling that supplements feta with a less expensive cheese. Some substitution options are ricotta, cottage cheese or even queso fresco. Feta is expensive. Imported feta is even more expensive, and hard to find. By adding a cheaper fresh (unripened) white cheese you can bring down the total cost of the recipe significantly. I like my banitsa to have a good amount of cheese so I usually supplement feta with one of these options.

The “etc”

There are all kinds of variations in banitsa ingredients and techniques. Some recipes call for oil instead of or in addition to butter. I prefer an all butter version (that’s my bias for most baking in general). You will also find recipes that call for adding some soda water to the pan before baking (to help with leavening). I’ve even experimented with adding a chemical leavener like baking powder or baking soda to the filling mix. I really haven’t found that any of these additions makes much difference in the finished product.

The key to good fluffy texture to banitsa is the buttered layers of dough-filling-dough. Butter, unlike oil, has significant water content. When butter heats in the oven the water evaporates to steam which lifts and raises the layers–similar to what happens in laminated doughs like croissants. So don’t be afraid to use lots of butter and generously grease your phyllo sheets in each layer.

And finally you have options for form/shape of your banitsa. Two popular ones are a spiral or a layered sheets. The version we are making in Banitsa I is the latter. We’ll do a spiral in Banitsa II later. The assembly techniques are quite different as are the overall experiences. Spiral banitsa is baked in a circular shape and served in wedges; layered banitsa is baked in a sheet pan and cut into squares or rectangles. Even spirals have variations: one big spiral or a pan of mini ones.

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The recipe Banitsa the Bulgarian feta cheese pastry

Banitsa I is the layered version of this dish. First you will mix up the filling then assemble and bake it. Beat 4 eggs into one cup of Bulgarian yogurt. If you can’t find Bulgarian yogurt you can use Greek or really any kind of plain (unflavored) yogurt you can find. Some recipes even call for milk.

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Stir in 2 cups or about one pound of crumbled feta. Feta is often sold in brine so pour off the liquid before using.

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If you like cheese as much as I do, supplement with an additional 2 cups feta or to cut costs use ricotta or another unripened cheese. (The extra cheese is completely optional and not found in traditional recipes). I think banitsa is too skimpy without this additional cheese. I add a little freshly ground pepper and a dash of salt to taste, if needed. Feta can be very salty. Taste a bit of your feta before using more salt. But that’s everything for the filling. Now you’re ready to start layering your banitsa in the pan.

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Grease a half sheet pan (9x13x1½”) and place one sheet of phyllo on the bottom. Brush the sheet with about a tablespoon of the melted butter. Repeat with 3 more sheets. On top of the fourth sheet put one third of the egg-cheese mixture and spread it evenly over the sheets. Lay down two more sheets of phyllo and brush with another tablespoon of butter. Repeat with two more sheets. Spread another third of the egg-cheese mixture over this layer of phyllo.

At this point preheat your oven to 375°F. Put down two more sheets of phyllo; brush with butter. Repeat with two more sheets and top these with the remaining egg-cheese mixture. Put the last four phyllo sheets down one at a time, brushing each with butter. Fold in loose edges of phyllo and brush them with butter.

It’s at this stage that some recipes call for pouring on soda water. I did that once and didn’t like the result. If you have any melted butter left after brushing all the phyllo sheets, you can pour that over the whole banitsa. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from the oven and cover with paper towels and a towel at least 10 minutes before slicing. Banitsa is best served warm. Refrigerate leftovers. You can reheat it in a microwave for a minute or two or in a regular oven for 10 minutes at 350°F.

Bulgarians often eat banitsa for breakfast with yogurt. I’ll eat it any time of day as a snack or an accompaniment to meals.

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