Meat Burek

Burek is the ultimate Balkan comfort food — layers of paper-thin phyllo pastry wrapped around a richly spiced ground beef filling, baked until gloriously flaky and golden. Every bakery in Sarajevo has a version; this is the classic.

Ingredients

• 400g ground beef
• 1 large onion, very finely diced
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 1 tsp sweet paprika
• ½ tsp allspice
• 400g ready-made phyllo/filo pastry (about 12 sheets)
• 100ml sunflower oil
• 100ml cold sparkling water (for after baking)

Method

1. Make the filling: cook the onion in a little oil over medium heat until very soft, about 10 minutes. Add garlic, cook 1 more minute.
2. Add ground beef and break up with a spoon. Cook until browned and the mixture is fairly dry — no excess moisture. Season with all spices. Cool completely.
3. Preheat oven to 200°C. Brush a large round baking tin (about 30cm) generously with oil.
4. Lay a sheet of phyllo in the tin, draping the edges over the sides. Brush lightly with oil. Add another sheet at a 45° angle, brush with oil again.
5. Add a few tablespoons of filling along one edge of the phyllo and roll it up into a fat cigar shape. Curl this into the tin in a spiral.
6. Repeat with remaining phyllo and filling, building up the spiral until the tin is full.
7. Brush the top generously with oil. Bake for 35–40 minutes until deep golden and very crisp.
8. Immediately pour cold sparkling water over the hot burek — this creates steam and keeps it from going too dry. Rest 5 minutes before slicing.