National Dish of Bulgaria – Banitsa

Ingredients

Bulgarian banitsa is a pastry dish that is eaten for breakfast or as a savory snack. Although the dish is widely made throughout the year and sold at bakeries and snack shops, it is traditional to hide a coin in homemade banitsa at Christmas time as it is believed that whoever finds it when eating will have a prosperous year ahead.

Directions for Preparing Banitsa

1. Crack four eggs (whites and yolks) into a medium-sized bowl.
2. Add the yogurt to the eggs.
3. Use a whisk to combine the eggs and yogurt together.
4. Add the salt and pepper.
5. Crumble the feta cheese and then add this to the bowl. Mix well.
6. Divide into four portions and set aside.
7. Melt the butter in the microwave.
8. Brush melted butter on a sheet of phyllo dough.
9. Lay another sheet of phyllo dough onto the buttered sheet. The sheets will stick together.
10. Turn it over and apply melted butter to the dry side of the phyllo dough.
11. Paste the phyllo sheet with a portion of the egg, cheese, and yogurt mixture that was previously set aside.
12. Roll the sheet on its longest side to form a cylinder. Repeat this until you have four rolls of dough.
13. Line a 10-inch spring form baking pan with parchment paper.
14. Place one of the rolls of phyllo dough against the circular wall of the baking pan.
15. Add another roll inside of this and keep going until the dough rolls reach the center of the pan. The completed arrangement should resemble the spiral pattern on a snail’s shell.
16. Crack the last egg and separate the white from the yolk.
17. Whisk the egg yolk with the remaining melted butter.
18. Use this as a wash and brush on top of the entire banitsa.
19. Bake at 400° F for 25 minutes or until it is golden brown.
20. Slice and serve hot or cold.

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