Burek

I first discovered burek on a holiday in Croatia. I was standing in astonishment and gawking in the back courtyard of a small bakery in order to watch burek being made. I was already aware that the dough had to be like an hand-stretched apple strudel, but they people don’t pull the (strudel) dough out on a floured linen cloth like we do, but rather “spin / throw” the dough thinly on an oiled worktop.

Afterwards the stretched dough is filled with different filling variations (meat, cheese, potatoes,…). After filling it is rolled up and set on a baking tray or pan and baked at high heat, 250°C / 10-12 minutes.

Recipe

for a dough weight of 1522g / 8 pieces, each 190g of dough

Basic dough

Mix the wheat flour, water, and salt together in a mixer for 10 minutes on slow. If Tipo flour is used, the water amount can be increase a bit.

Production

• After working up the dough, cover and let it relax for 30 minutes.
• Then weigh out 190g dough pieces and roll into rounds. In order to prevent a skin forming on the dough immediately brush them with oil.
• Rest the dough another 60 minutes.
• After the dough has rested, smooth the dough on an oiled work surface and stretch into a thin dough.
• After the dough is stretched thin, fill it as desired.
• 1.) Meat: brown ground meat with chopped onions and season to taste. 2.) Potatoes: cut lightly boiled potatoes into small cubes and season.
• After filling, roll up into a burek form and place on a baking tray or pan.
• Bake the burek at 240-250°C / approx. 10-12 minutes.

Videos

A huge THANKS to my colleague Toni (the burek master) for the awesome videos 😉