Like so many other Greek specialities, bougatsa has a long history, and particularly this one stretches all the way back to Byzantine times.
Bougatsa is traditionally a breakfast pie with a filo pastry made of flour, softened butter and oil that requires a great deal of skill to prepare. The bakers have to roll out the pastry sheet and stretch it many times until they reach the desired paper thin consistency. Bougatsa is made and enjoyed all around Greece, but particularly famous are those made in northern Greece, especially in Thessaloniki and Serres. Turkish borek is a close relation, and similar pies are traditional to many eastern Balkan countries.
The traditional recipe can be savoury, stuffed with cheese, or sweet, with a semolina custard, topped with cinnamon and powdered sugar .Other common savoury versions are stuffed with spinach, with spinach and cheese and with minced meat (usually a mix of beef and pork or beef and lamb). Another popular filling is chocolate custard.
Make sure you visit Thessaloniki because only when walking in the streets of Thessaloniki one cannot avoid the delightful fragrance of freshly baked bougatsa that seems to hit you from every direction. It’s actually quite hard to find a bad version of this pie there, so make sure you try all of them!
But since we are not in Thessaloniki or Greece, we can enjoy a lovely traditional Bougatsa at home. The recipe is from Serres but instead of making the filo, we are going to use ready made filo pastry. Doesn’t get any easier!
Right, let’s get baking my darlings!
You will need:
1 packet of filo pastry
150 gr unsalted butter plus 2 tablespoons
1500 ml milk
200 gr fine semolina
250 gr sugar
pinch of salt
some vanilla
1 tbsp cinnamon
icing sugar/cinnamon to serve
The cooking instructions are quite straightforward. In this case I used a quiche tin just to make the pie look nice one baked but you can easily use any shape tin you have.
To make the custard simply pour the milk and sugar in a pan and let it warm up slightly. Add the salt and semolina and whisk the custard until it thickens. Once it starts bubbling, remove from the heat, add 2 tablespoons of butter and vanilla, whisk some more and let it cool slightly.
To prepare the filo pastry, melt 150 gr of butter and then butter the tin you are using. Start placing the filo sheets in the pan making sure to butter them where they overlap. Use five filo sheets for the bottom of the bougatsa. Butter the top and then pour the custard on top of the filo sheets making sure to distribute it evenly. Sprinkle 1 tbsp of cinnamon on top of the custard.
Cover with the bottom sheets the top of the pie and butter them. Place two more sheets on top and butter them as well.
Bake in a pre-heated oven at 200°C for 30-35 minutes for the filo sheets to crisp up well.
Remove and serve hot with a sprinkle of icing sugar and more cinnamon.
Ingredients
- 1 packet of filo pastry
- 150 gr unsalted butter plus 2 tablespoons
- 1500 ml milk
- 200 gr fine semolina
- 250 gr sugar
- pinch of salt
- some vanilla
- 1 tbsp cinnamon
- icing sugar/cinnamon to serve
Instructions
Step 1
To make the custard pour the milk and sugar in a pan and let it warm up slightly. Add the salt and semolina and whisk the custard until it thickens. Once it starts bubbling, remove from the heat, add 2 tablespoons of butter and vanilla, whisk some more and let it cool slightly.
Step 2
Pre-heat the oven at 200°C
Step 3
Melt 150gr butter. Butter the tin you are using. Start placing the filo sheets in the pan making sure to butter them where they overlap. Use five filo sheets for the bottom of the bougatsa. Butter the top and then pour the custard on top of the filo sheets making sure to distribute it evenly. Sprinkle 1 tbsp of cinnamon on top of the custard.
Step 4
Cover with the bottom sheets the top of the pie and butter them. Place two more sheets on top and butter them as well.
Step 5
Bake for 30-35 minutes until the filo pastry becomes crispy and golden brown.
Notes
Bougatsa traditionally is served hot but can easily be enjoyed at home cold with a cup of brew or coffee. If you want the pie to be less sweet, reduce sugar to 200 gr or even 150 gr. You can omit cinnamon too if you are not a big fan of the taste and add lemon zest in the custard.
