Just Have to Share – Bosnian Borek (Meat Pitas)

We spent last week with my sister and her boyfriend and his family in Croatia, where his Bosnian mother cooked us three meals a day unless we went out. She doesn’t speak a word of English so conversation was a non-starter, making getting recipes out of her very difficult so I have pieced this one together as best as I could.  Bosnians, or at least these Bosnians, eat a very different diet to ours, with at least two courses and bread at each sitting. In addition, their meals are really heavy – in sweltering heat we were still consuming hot pots and soups.

This dish is different, however. She made them in advance when we were late back for dinner one night, and we also bought some to have on the beach another day, so they can be prepared in advance and eaten at leasure.

Ingredients

500g ground meat of your choice
1 onion, finely diced
1 potato, grated
salt and pepper to taste
75ml melted butter
12 sheets phyllo pastry

Instructions

• Mix the first four ingredients together in a bowl
• Place one sheet of the pastry on a kitchen towel and spread a little oil or butter on it
• Spoon the filling along the long edge of the dough about two inches from the edge, about an inch wide
• Roll the dough into a thin tube, starting at the side with the filling
• (You can also roll them in a spiral like cinnamon swirls, I believe, but this Bosnian mama didn’t)
  
• Place on a greased pan or cookie sheet, and brush the top with a bit of oil.
• Repeat procedure until you have used all the filling.
• Bake about 30 minutes in preheated 350°F oven (180°C) until golden brown in colour.
• Brush with butter.
• Serve with plain yogurt.