Bulgarian layered cheese pastry made from feta and phyllo dough
Prep Time1 hourhr
Cook Time30 minutesmins
Total Time1 hourhr30 minutesmins
Course: Breakfast, Side Dish, Snack
Cuisine: Bulgarian
Keyword: Baking, cheese, feta
Servings: 12
Ingredients
1cupBulgarian yogurt(or Greek)
4eggs
16ozBulgarian feta cheesecrumbled
16ozricotta or cottage cheese(optional)
1/2cupbuttermelted
ground black pepper
saltto taste
16-20sheetsphyllo 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.