Cheese Borek - Peynirli Borek

Cheese Borek (Peynirli Borek in Turkish) is a crispy, light, and delicious Turkish filo pie filled with tangy cheeses and aromatic herbs. You can serve these baked pastries as an appetizer for Christmas or as a light meal for dinner with a bowl of Turkish Lentil Soup.

Jump to:

• Why This Recipe Works?
• Ingredients and Substitutes
• Step-by-Step Instructions
• Related Recipes
• Top Tips From The Chef
• Cheese Borek - Peynirli Borek

Turkish cuisine is well known for its countless selection of savoury pastries filled with a variety of fillings such as meat, vegetables, or cheese. They are usually made with either yufka (round-shaped, thin, unleavened flatbread) or filo pastries. My Cheese Borek recipe recalls for filo pastry but you can use yufka instead and shape them like Kiymali Borek (Meat Borek).

Why This Recipe Works?

• These filo pies are crispy, flaky, buttery and filling, the same as my other Turkish borek recipes.

• You can make them a couple of days ahead and bake them when you need them!

• It is a classic vegetarian Turkish dish that is ready in just 45 minutes.

• It is very easy to make them with step-by-step pictures and instructions.

Ingredients and Substitutes

• Filo Pastry - Filo is a very thin unleavened dough used for making pastries such as baklava and borek in Turkish and Mediterranean cooking. I used 2 packs of filo dough, 20 sheets in total. You can substitute with 3 pieces of Turkish yufka sheets.

• Cheese - I use a mixture of halloumi, Kasar and feta cheese to make these delicious savoury pies. Kasar is a semi-hard yellow cheese that is similar to cheddar but much milder and is made from sheep milk. It is widely used in Turkey for pastries and general cooking. You can find Kasar cheese from Turkish or Middle Eastern shops as well as from Amazon. Alternatively, you can use cheddar, mozzarella, gruyere, gouda or any other cheese you have in hand.

• Yoghurt - I use plain or natural yoghurt with no sugar & flavour added. Yoghurt gives the borek a fluffy and light texture.

• Eggs - They give colour as well as flavour to the borek. You can omit and add extra oil and/or yoghurt to the sauce.

• Oil - It adds an extra crispness to the borek. You can substitute it with melted butter, olive oil, sunflower oil or rapeseed oil.

• Vinegar - A little amount of vinegar will help your borek to be softer inside while it's crispy outside.

• Sesame or nigella seeds - They give extra crunch to borek or pastries. They are commonly used in sweet or savoury Turkish bakeries.

• Herbs - Parsley, mint and dill are my favourite herbs to pair with cheese but you can use basil, oregano, thyme, chervil or chives instead. If you want to use dried herbs, use ⅓ of the amount.

Step-by-Step Instructions

Making these scrumptious Turkish cheese boreks is very easy and straightforward. However, to achieve the best results, you need to follow a few simple steps:

Prepare the Cheese Filling

Grate the halloumi cheese and Kasar cheese in a bowl. Add the crumbled feta, chopped herbs, freshly ground black pepper and chilli flakes (if using) to the bowl. Mix them all using a fork or a spoon, and set them aside.

Prepare the Sauce and Build the Borek

Place the egg in a small bowl and lightly whisk it. Add the yoghurt, oil and vinegar, and whisk well. Preheat the oven to 180 °C. Place one sheet of filo on your work surface and drizzle 1-1 ½ tablespoon of the sauce, spread it evenly using a brush. Lay another sheet of filo on top and then drizzle some more sauce, spread it evenly.

Repeat the same steps until you have three sheets of filo. Cut it into three equal-size strips. It's ok if they are a little uneven. Put one tablespoon of the cheese mixture at the end corner of one strip.

Take the opposite corner and fold diagonally over the filling, forming a triangular fold. Fold again along the upper crease of the triangle.

Continue folding in this way until you reach the end of the strip. Brush the seam with the sauce to seal the end. Place it onto a parchment-lined baking sheet seam side down and repeat the same with the rest of the filo sheets. 

Brush the borek pieces with the rest of the sauce and sprinkle on sesame seeds or nigella seeds (or both). Place the baking sheet in preheated oven and bake the boreks for 20-25 minutes, until they are golden and crispy.

Related Recipes

For more scrumptious Turkish Borek Recipes why not try:

• Borek with Meat and Spinach

• Kiymali Borek (Meat Borek)

• Potato Borek

• Spinach and Feta Borek

• Turkish Rolls (Sigara Boregi)

• Spinach Borek (Ispanakli Borek)

• Pacanga Boregi

• Su Boregi - Water Borek

Top Tips From The Chef

• You can keep unbaked boreks in the freezer for up to 3 months. Simply bake them in the preheated oven straight from frozen. Add an extra 5 to 10 minutes to the baking time. 

• Don't overfill the pastries as the cheese filling may leak out while baking them.

• Filo pastries are very fragile and dry out quickly if you don't keep them covered with a damp kitchen cloth.

I hope you enjoy the process of making this filo pastry recipe as much as you enjoy eating it! 🙂

Bon appétit! / Afiyet Olsun!

FOOD SAFETY

• Cook to a minimum temperature of 165 °F (74 °C)
• Don’t leave food sitting out at room temperature for extended periods
• Never leave cooking food unattended
• Use oils with high smoking points to avoid harmful compounds
• Always have good ventilation when using a gas stove

See more guidelines at USDA.gov.

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Did you make this recipe?

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