Bulgarian banitsa with cheese — the traditional Balkan layered pie

Banitsa is one of the most loved dishes of Bulgarian cuisine — a layered pie with thin pastry sheets, filled with crumbled cheese and eggs, baked until it becomes golden and crisp. In Bulgaria it is eaten for breakfast or as a starter, always accompanied by fresh yogurt or boza.

Ingredients (for a ~30 cm pan, 6–8 servings):

• 500 g thin pastry sheets for pie (ready-made)
• 400 g white cheese (feta or cow’s cheese), crumbled
• 4 eggs
• 250 ml natural yogurt
• 100 g melted butter (or 100 ml oil)
• 1 teaspoon baking soda (bicarbonate of soda)
• salt to taste (only if the cheese is not salty)

Preparation:

1. Heat the oven to 180°C. Grease the pan with a little melted butter.
2. In a large bowl crumble the cheese; in another bowl beat the eggs with the yogurt and the baking soda; combine them and add half of the melted butter.
3. Lay 2–3 pastry sheets in the pan and brush them lightly with butter; spread a layer of the cheese filling. Repeat the sheet–filling layers until they are used up, finishing with pastry on top.
4. Brush the surface with the remaining butter and cut the banitsa into squares or diamonds before baking.
5. Bake for 35–40 minutes, until it takes on a deep golden colour and becomes crisp.
6. Leave it to rest for 10 minutes and serve warm with fresh yogurt.

Preparation time: 20 minutes | Cooking time: 40 minutes | Servings: 6–8