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Turkish · Istanbul

Su böreği

layered cheese börek

Silky boiled-then-baked pastry sheets layered with feta and parsley — the Istanbul classic that eats like lasagne's pastry cousin.

Prep
30 min
Cook
30 min
Total
1 hr
Serves
8
Level
Involved

My mother-in-law made su böreği for every gathering, standing over two pots — one boiling, one cold — dipping pastry sheets like she was doing laundry. It looked impossible the first time I watched. It isn’t; it just wants your attention for twenty minutes.

If yufka is hard to find, thin fresh lasagne sheets do the job. The soak is everything: be generous with it, and don’t skip resting the börek before you cut, or the layers slide apart.

Ingredients

  • 1 packet yufka or thin lasagne sheets
  • 300g feta, crumbled
  • 1 cup grated kashkaval or mozzarella
  • 1 large bunch flat-leaf parsley, chopped
  • 4 eggs
  • 1 1/2 cups milk
  • 1/2 cup melted butter
  • 1/2 cup neutral oil
  • Salt

Method

  1. Whisk the eggs, milk, melted butter and oil with a good pinch of salt to make the soak.
  2. Bring a wide pot of water to a boil and have a bowl of cold water ready beside it.
  3. Dip each pastry sheet briefly in the boiling water, then the cold, until just silky — don't let them fall apart.
  4. Layer half the sheets in a buttered tray, brushing each with the egg soak as you go.
  5. Spread over the feta, kashkaval and parsley, then layer the remaining sheets, soaking each one.
  6. Pour any leftover soak over the top and bake at 190°C / 375°F for 30 minutes, until deep gold.
  7. Rest 10 minutes before cutting into squares.