Cheese Bourekas Recipe | Cook the Book

Updated March 21, 2019

In Israel, bourekas are the quick breakfast or lunch of choice. These savory pastries made their way to the Middle East by way of the Balkans and can be filled with all sorts of cheeses and veggies. Janna Gur, author of The Book of New Israeli Food, includes several boureka recipes representing many of the filling combinations and doughs that make this pastry so popular.

These cheese bourekas are ideal for boureka novices who aren't yet ready to start making their own puffy pastry dough. Using the store-bought stuff, these bourekas are stuffed with a wonderfully salty mix of Israeli cheese including gvina levana, kashkaval, and brinza. These exotic cheeses aren't the easiest to find so ricotta, parmesan, and feta can also be subbed in. The cheese is bound with a couple of egg yolks and a bit of cornstarch, pinched into triangles of puff pastry and sprinkled with sesame seeds before being baked.

Reprinted with permission from The Book of New Israeli Food by Janna Gur. Copyright © 2007. Published by Schocken Books, a division of Random House, Inc. Available wherever books are sold. All Rights Reserved.

Recipe Details

Cheese Bourekas Recipe | Cook the Book

Active 20 mins

Total 45 mins

Serves 20 bourekas

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Ingredients

For the Cheese Filling:

1 pound, 2 ounces gvina levana (fresh white cheese) or ricotta (5% fat)
9 ounces kashkaval or Parmesan cheese, grated
9 ounces brinza or feta cheese, crumbled
2 egg yolks
1 tablespoon cornstarch
Freshly ground black pepper

For the Pastry:

3 pounds, 5 ounces puff pastry dough
1 egg, beaten with 1 tablespoon water, for brushing
Sesame seeds for garnishing

Directions

Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C).
Beat all ingredients for filling until smooth.
Roll dough into a 1/4-inch-thick sheet. Cut into 5-inch squares. Put 1 tablespoon of filling in center of each square, fold diagonally to form a triangle and pinch edges together. Arrange bourekas with sufficient space between them on a tray lined with baking paper.
Brush triangles with beaten egg and sprinkle sesame seeds on top.
Bake for about 30 minutes until bourekas are golden and plump and smell delicious.

Nutrition Facts (per serving)
615	Calories
42g	Fat
45g	Carbs
16g	Protein

Nutrition Facts
Servings: 20
Amount per serving
Calories	615
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 42g	53%
Saturated Fat 11g	54%
Cholesterol 67mg	22%
Sodium 621mg	27%
Total Carbohydrate 45g	16%
Dietary Fiber 2g	5%
Total Sugars 1g
Protein 16g
Vitamin C 0mg	0%
Calcium 268mg	21%
Iron 3mg	15%
Potassium 136mg	3%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.