If there is a traditional Turkish food item that leaves neither room for polarized opinions nor doubt about having the second helping it is definitely sigara böreği, cigar-shaped pastry of paper-thin dough (yufka) stuffed with cheese. It has also been a hit on my cooking classes always resulting in the discussion on how to organize yufka export to the sigara böreği craving foodies outside of Turkey.
In fact yufka can be replaced by the phyllo dough, thinner Greek take on this type of dough which is more easily found in the shops around the world than its Turkish counterpart. Instead of 1 yufka sheet you will need about 3 sheets of phyllo.
Below I am giving the base sigara böreği recipe I’ve tested many times: it may differ from the traditional ones in two major ways: (1) I add some melting cheese to the stuffing to make it little more moist and (2) I bake the cigars instead of deep frying them - it like less fuss cooking and healthier outcome.
Sigara Böreği
Simplicity guaranteed to be a hit: cigar-shaped traditional Turkish pastry with toasted crust and wonderfully moist cheese and parsley stuffing
Prep Time: 10 Min
Cook Time: 20 Min
Serves: 3
Ingredients
- 3 sheets phyllo dough (or 1 yufka sheet)
- 80 gram feta cheese (originally lor peyniri), grated
- 60 gram cheddar cheese (originally kaşar peyniri), grated
- 2 tbsp parsley finely chopped
- 1 egg divided
- salt
- black pepper freshly ground
- water for sealing cigars
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil for brushing cigars
Directions
- Prepare filling: In a mixing bowl combine cheeses, parsley, egg, salt and spices. Mix well and set aside.
- Prepare the dough: If dealing with yufka then cut the sheet into 12 segments; if working with phyllo – place the three sheets on top of each, half them vertically with a knife and then cut each of the 2 rectangles diagonally so you get 4 equal triangles (or 12, given you have 3 layers). Place each triangle on top of each other and cover with a clean damp cloth to prevent phyllo from drying and loosing its elasticity.
- Form sigara böreği: Preheat the oven to 220C (430F). Take one phyllo triangle and place in on the table so that its shorter side is closer to you. Sprinkle a table spoon of filling along the shorter side of the triangle. Slightly tuck the two longer side of the triangle inside and begin to fold a thin cigar. Moist the tip of the triangle with water for sealing and put the cigar on the baking tray covered with baking paper. Before you send your sigara böreği to the oven, brush them first with egg and then very generously with vegetable oil.
- Bake: Bake at 220 C (430F) for 15 minutes or until golden. Serve sigara böreği hot or warm.
