• prep: 30 min
• cook: 1 hr
• total: 1 hr 30 min

servings:

Recipe video above. If you think this Borek looks amazing, just wait until you taste it!! A spiced lamb filling littered with pine nuts and currants encased in layers up on layers of flaky filo pastry arranged in a dramatic spiral, this pastry goes by various names incuding burek, bourekas, and byrek.It's an excellent return on effort, looking so much more difficult than it actually is to make!Vegetarian version - Use the spinach feta filling from Spanakopita!

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 onion (, finely diced (1 small or 1/2 a large))
• 2 garlic cloves (, finely minced)
• 600g / 1.2 lb lamb mince ((ie. ground lamb, or substitute beef))
• 1 1/2 tsp ground cumin
• 3/4 tsp each of ground coriander, cinnamon, paprika ((plain or sweet paprika))
• 1/2 tsp allspice ((sub mixed spice or similar spice mix))
• 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper or Turkish red pepper flakes ((reduce for less spicy))
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1 1/4 tsp salt ((cooking / kosher salt, OR 1 tsp table salt))
• 1/3 cup currants ((or raisins or sultanas, roughly chopped))
• 1/3 cup pine nuts (, toasted (Note 1))
• 1 cup tomato passata ((tomato puree in US, Note 2))
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 egg
• 2 tbsp plain yogurt
• 30g / 2 tbsp unsalted butter (, melted)
• 12 sheets phyllo pastry ((Note 3))
• 25g / 1 1/2 tbsp unsalted butter (, melted and cooled)
• White sesame seeds ((optional))
• 1 cup plain yogurt
• 1/4 tsp garlic (, finely grated)
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• Pinch of salt

Click Here For Step-By-Step Instructions