Borekitas De Berengena

Susiecat too's Note:

Eggplant and Cheese pies. Turkish, traditionally made in the Jewish community in and around Istanbul. Slightly adapted from "The Book of Jewish Food" by Claudia Roden. The dough is initially cut into 2 pieces to make it more manageable than rolling out the whole thing. From each half, roll thin and cut out the smaller rounds, gather your scraps and roll again. The small filling is perfect for a 10-cm (4-inch) round folded in half. If you want to use the two halves to make a large (9-inch) double crusted pie, then add the extra egg as noted in the last step.

• Total Time: 55 mins
• Prep Time: 20 mins
• Cook Time: 35 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 10

For dough

• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup warm water
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups flour
• 1 egg yolk, mixed with 1 tsp water, for glazing
• 3 tablespoons grated kashkaval (optional) or 3 tablespoons parmesan cheese (optional)

For filling

• 1 lb eggplant
• 4 ounces feta cheese
• 1 cup grated kashkaval, gruyere or 1 cup parmesan cheese
• salt and pepper, as desired

Directions:

1. Beat the oil with the water and salt and add just enough flour to make a soft malleable, oily dough.
2. Prick eggplants with a fork and turn under the broiler until they are soft inside.
3. Put into a colander and peel eggplants. Smash the flesh of the eggplant in the colander to release juices, press to drain them.
4. In a bowl, mix eggplant pulp with feta cheese and kashkaval, mix well.
5. Salt and pepper as desired.
6. Divide pastry into 2 balls, roll each one out thin and cut into 10-cm (4 inch) rounds. You will not need flour for rolling -- the dough does not stick.
7. Top each round with 1 heaping tablespoon of filling, fold round over and crimp edges.
8. Place pies on a baking sheet, brush with egg glaze mixture. Sprinkle with grated cheese if desired.
9. Bake 350F for 35 minutes or until lightly browned.
10. If desired, can make one large pie by rolling out 2 large crusts from dough. If doing so, add 2 beaten eggs to the filling.

Reviews

[Chef #1543282]

Great Dough! It is a bit time consuming but the flavor is wonderful too!! They would be great dipped in a maranara or a white sauce of some sort. Or a sweet oil sauce? I dont think they are a meal in themselves, but a wonderful main dish. They could be served as horsdevors too! YAY!

[Maito]

I am not giving this any stars since I tried to lighten this by decreasing the oil and cheese, and it didn't work out that well. I used almost twice as much eggplant, which did work well (if you love eggplant like we do). The dough makes this a little time consuming. I figured out after reading the directions a few times that step 6 means you fold the dough in half, and step 10 means making one very large pie with the pie having a top and a bottom. I think I had more than half a cup of filling in each of the five small pies I made (about 5 inches). If this is being served as a meal, it will feed about 3 people.

[Ginger Rose]

Delicious! I do have to admit that I used goat cheese instead of feta...but I'm sure both taste just as good! I was actually surprised how little time it took me to make, so not only is it tasty but you can also put it together fast. Thanks for this lovely recipe!