Bourekas

Israeli Potato and Feta Bourekas

Flaky, golden bourekas stuffed with mashed potato and salty feta - a beloved Israeli bakery staple with Sephardic and Balkan Jewish roots. The key is a generous egg wash so the puff pastry bakes up shatteringly crisp.

Prep

25 min

Cook

30 min

Total

55 min

Serves

8 bourekas

Difficulty

Medium

Recipe ingredients

• •500 g (1 lb 2 oz) puff pastry, all-butter if possible; thaw overnight in the fridge
• •450 g (1 lb) potatoes, starchy type such as russet or Maris Piper
• •150 g (5½ oz) feta cheese, Israeli or Greek sheep's-milk feta, crumbled
• •1 whole medium onion, finely diced
• •2 tbsp olive oil
• •1 large egg, lightly beaten, for the filling
• •1 large egg yolk, beaten with 1 tbsp water for the wash
• •2 tbsp sesame seeds, white, or a mix of white and black
• •1 tsp dried oregano, optional, for an Israeli-Mizrahi touch
• •0.5 tsp (½ tsp) black pepper
• •0.25 tsp (¼ tsp) salt, go light - feta is already salty

Steps

1. 1 Peel the potatoes, cut into 2 cm (¾ in) chunks, and place in a saucepan of cold salted water. Bring to a boil and cook 12–15 minutes, until a knife slides in with no resistance. Drain well and return to the hot pan for 1 minute to drive off excess moisture, then mash until smooth.
2. 2 Meanwhile, sauté the onion in the olive oil over medium heat for 6–8 minutes until soft and lightly golden. Stir into the mashed potato along with the crumbled feta, egg, oregano, pepper, and salt. Taste and adjust seasoning - it should taste slightly too salty, since the pastry is bland. Cool the filling to room temperature, then chill for 15 minutes so it is easy to handle.
3. 3 Line two trays with baking paper. On a lightly floured surface, roll the puff pastry into a 3 mm (⅛ in) thick rectangle. Cut into 8 squares, each about 12 × 12 cm (5 × 5 in).
4. 4 Spoon about 2 heaped tablespoons (≈ 55 g) of filling into the centre of each square, leaving a 2 cm (¾ in) border. Brush the border with a little water.
5. 5 Fold each square corner-to-corner into a triangle (or bring two opposite corners together for an open-topped version). Press the edges firmly with the tines of a fork to seal - this is essential or the filling will leak.
6. 6 Transfer the bourekas to the prepared trays, seam-side down, and chill for 20 minutes. This relaxes the gluten and keeps the layers puffed.
7. 7 Heat the oven to 200 °C / 400 °F (fan 180 °C / 375 °F). Brush each boureka generously with the egg yolk–water wash - go all the way to the edges and over the top so the whole surface browns. Sprinkle with sesame seeds.
8. 8 Bake on the middle rack for 22–28 minutes, rotating once at the halfway mark, until deeply golden brown and visibly puffed. Doneness cue: the pastry should sound hollow when tapped and an instant-read thermometer inserted into the centre reads above 75 °C / 165 °F (this confirms the egg in the filling is fully cooked).
9. 9 Cool on the tray for 5 minutes - the filling is molten straight from the oven - then serve warm. Bourekas are best eaten the same day but can be reheated in a 180 °C / 350 °F oven for 5 minutes to re-crisp the pastry.