Squash börek
squash + filo pastry what's not to like
squash season is here!
This week I’m using butternut squash as part of my ‘one seasonal vegetable at a time’ series that I write and share with Ashurst Organic’s vegetable box. This pie has 5 of your 30 different plants per week. Remember variation is best for supporting the gut microbiome. Keep the skin on - that’s where the highest concentration of nutrients is found.
Borek is a filo pastry pie and this version honours the butternut squash. If you do have any leftover pumpkin, instead of letting it go to waste roast it up and make this recipe! 18,000 tonnes of pumpkins are wasted each year in the UK alone.
See the reel I made for this recipe
Butternut Börek recipe
you will need:
one medium butternut squash (or any squash with a firmer texture)
three medium onions halved and roughly sliced
4 cloves of garlic
handful of dill finely chopped
150g feta crumbled
two handfuls of rainbow chard leaves finely chopped
four stems of rainbow chard finely chopped
50g butter melted (or use olive oil)
teaspoon of Za’atar
method
Half, de-seed and chop the butternut squash.
Mix on a roasting tray with onions, garlic (skin on and squashed with the side of the knife), a good drizzle of olive oil and season well.
Roast in the oven at 180 degrees until the squash is soft around 30-40 minutes.
Meanwhile, to a large bowl add dill, crumbled feta, rainbow chard leaves, chard stems and season well. A sprinkle of chilli flakes can be nice here!
Once the squash is cooked and slightly cooled, mix into the bowl.
Place one sheet of filo pastry onto a clean work surface with the long edge closest to you.
Gently brush over a thin layer of melted butter or olive oil. Place another layer of filo directly on top and brush again. Place one last sheet of filo on top.
Leaving a small gap closest to you, make a line of filling along the bottom of the pastry about an inch thick.
Use the little gap to fold over the filling and roll up (away from you) into a tube. This is your outside piece.
Repeat steps 6-8 until you have used up the filling/pastry. Only use two layers of filo for the rest of the rolls! (see end of post for ideas if you’ve filling leftover).
When the long squash-filled cigars are ready, lightly oil or line an oven tray.
Reserving your outside piece, start by creating the centre by taking one piece and spiralling it around itself in the middle of a lined or oiled oven tray. Add each piece by pushing the ends of the pastry together and continuing the spiral shape. Use the outside piece last (it is thicker).
Brush the Borek with olive oil or more butter and sprinkle over Za’atar
Cook at 180 degrees (160 for fan) for around 30 minutes until the pastry is lightly brown and crisp.
leftover mixture is great inside an omelette! or I had as a salad with some extra olive oil on top!
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