All Cypriot Recipes

Peynirli with halloumi cheese Πεινιρλι με χαλουμι

We didn’t really have peynirli in Cyprus growing up and I mostly learned about it from my husband who comes from Tripoli in the Peloponnese. Peynirli is traditionally a Turkish boat shaped pastry filled with primarily cheese and then anything your heart desires. Fillings vary from minced meat, salami or ham, vegetables and eggs.

My version included some halloumi cheese cause I wanted to create a Cypriot version mainly because halloumi is sooo good when it’s oven baked!

Right, let’s get cooking!

Peynirli with halloumi cheese

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Serves: 5 Prep Time: Cooking Time:
Nutrition facts: 200 calories 20 grams fat
Rating: 5.0/5
( 3 voted )

Ingredients

  • 500 gr strong bread flour
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1tsp sugar
  • lukewarm water
  • 50 gr melted butter
  • 9 gr yeast
  • For the filling
  • 100 gr Chopped tinned tomatoes
  • 200 gr grated mozzarella (or any other cheese of your choice good for melting)
  • 100 gr bacon, sliced
  • 100 gr halloumi cheese, in cubes
  • 2 tbsp melted butter

Instructions

Step 1

Add the flour, salt and butter in a mixer's bowl and mix for 2 minutes for the butter to wet the flour.Add the sugar, yeast and lukewarm water. Add enough water until the dough is soft and pliable. The dough will be on the wet side. Oil a big bowl, add the dough, cover and let is rest for a minimum of 1 hour.

Step 2

Once the dough has doubled in size,remove from the bowl and split in 5 pieces (4 if you want to make bigger peynirlis). Roll out the balls of dough in oval shapes. Wet the edges with some water.

Step 3

To form the peynirli, fold the half of the bottom edge first and then the other half raising it slightly and placing it under the first fold. Secure the edges by pressing them firmly. Start folding the upper edge in the same way you did for the bottom. Then roll the long edges inward to create a barrier as much or as little as you like-this will help keep the filling in place.

Step 4

Let the peynirli rest for 30 minutes. Pre -heat the oven at 200ºC.  Once rested, add the grated cheese first (this will help the base not to get soggy) tomatoes, bacon and halloumi cheese. Brush the edges with some water and bake for around 30 minutes or until nicely golden and crunchy. 

Step 5

Once you remove them from the oven, brush the edges with some melted butter.

Enjoy x

Notes

Instead of water in the dough you can use milk Of course you can use any filling you wish !

AboutDina

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