Balkan style savory cheese pie (Gibanica, but the "c" reads as "ts"). Easy, tasty and filling!
Ingredients for a medium-sized pie, feeds about 4 people
or gives tupperware lunches to a hungry PhD student for three days :
-500 g cheese (sirene or feta - brined cheese in general)
-One pack (about 400-500g) of phyllo pastry. I buy it at Turkish stores (look for unsweetened yufka for börek) although the dough
should be homemade... but that ain't happening
.
-About 250 g of yogurt, preferably creamy.
-3 or 4 eggs
-Some baking powder
-Olive oil
-If you're feeling traditional, lard instead of oil and also sub the yogurt with kajmak, which is similar to clotted cream so mostly fat as well. Word to the wise: the "proper" recipe
is lip-smacking tasty... but you can also feel your arteries clogging. You have been warned
Preparation:
-Cut the cheese into small pieces, scramble the eggs, then mix it all together with the yogurt in a large bowl.
-Mash so the cheese is broken down nicely and well soaked - it won't really be a homogeneous mixture, but I hope you get the picture.
-Add some baking powder to the mix and work it in without overmixing.
-Take a baking form and sprinkle some oil to keep the dough from sticking.
-Start layering the dough (you might need to wet it a bit with water so it isn't super brittle!) in the bottom of the form. Add some drops of oil and spread them on the dough, then add a thin layer of mix on top. -Repeat with alternating dough-mix layers until the first of those runs out.
-Throw into a preheated oven at 200ºC for about half an hour. You can use a bit of egg to paint the top layer of dough so it looks prettier and you can also sprinkle some cumin on top, to taste.
It can be eaten by itself well enough, or with side of ajvar (red pepper paste) and kajmak.
Photo of today's attempt: