Healthy Beef Börek

For the Filling

2 medium red onions

2 shallots

1 huge carrot or 2 large carrots

500 g or 1 lb. beef

½ cup chopped parsley

1 tablespoon oregano

1 turn of ground red pepper

Salt and pepper to taste

For the Wash

2 eggs

¾ cup of milk

3 tablespoons olive oil

For the Dough

Yufka leaves – I bought a 360 gram packet of 24 leaves and used 13 of them.

Directions:

Use the fat from the meat to sauté the ingredients for the filling, breaking it apart and cooking, until it is no longer pink.

Whisk together the wash.

Assemble the borek. Lay out a yufka leaf on a clean, dry surface. Baste with the wash. I realized I had no pastry brush just when it was time to baste. But I didn’t live in the former Soviet Union for nothing. I took a makeup brush, washed it thoroughly and used that. Then I realized the yufka I bought wasn’t round, but wedge shaped. So instead of spreading a line of filling and rolling it up into a single snake, I made a whole bunch of smaller böreks, tucking them in at the ends as I rolled to keep the filling inside. I placed them side by side in my pan. When I was out of filling, I covered the tops well with the rest of the wash, making sure there was no dry dough. Then I baked them at 180 degrees centigrade (350 Fahrenheit) for just over 20 minutes. I removed them from the oven and sprinkled a little water on top, then covered them with a clean, damp dish towel, and waited another 20 minutes. Which was hard to do. But well worth the wait. So yum!