Cheese bourekas with a hard-boiled egg, grated tomato and pickled cucumbers

Name: Cheese bourekas with a hard-boiled egg, grated tomato and pickled cucumbers
Prep time: 15 min
Total time: 45 min
Yield: 2 servings
Cuisine: Israeli and Mediterranean
Ingredients: 240 g Frozen cheese bourekas, ready to bake (4 pieces of about 60 g, 2 per person (3 per person if they are small 40 g ones); unbaked, from the freezer section, kosher dairy, preferably made with butter); 125 g Eggs (2 eggs to serve hard-boiled + 15 g of a 3rd beaten egg for glazing (keep the rest in the fridge for 1 day for an omelette)); 4 g Sesame seeds (½ tbsp); 200 g Tomatoes, vine or round (2 medium, very ripe tomatoes, grated, skins discarded (about 170 g pulp)); 60 g Gherkins / small pickled cucumbers (3 small cucumbers pickled in brine or vinegar (khamutsim)); 100 g Cucumbers (1 Israeli cucumber, cut into sticks); 300 g Plain yoghurt, 3% fat (150 g pot) (2 pots of 150 g, one per person); 30 g Lemon (¼ lemon, yielding about 12 g juice, for the yoghurt); 8 g Fresh mint (a small handful, about thirty leaves, washed and checked: half in the yoghurt, half left whole on the platter); 2 g Za'atar (hyssop, sumac and sesame blend) (1 level tsp); 15 g Extra virgin olive oil (1½ tbsp: 10 g over the tomato, 5 g over the yoghurt); 4 g Fine salt (1.5 g in the tomato, 2 g in the yoghurt, 0.5 g over the eggs and cucumber); 0.3 g Ground black pepper (1 pinch, over the eggs); 10 g Harissa (2 tsp, or schug, for those who like heat)

dairy breakfast · Israeli and Mediterranean · 1/5 · very easy · 45 min, including 15 hands-on

The platter served at bourekas counters and on Israeli Saturday mornings, for any morning of the week: cheese bourekas glazed with egg and sesame, a hard-boiled egg, salted grated tomato to spoon into the flaky pastry, brined cucumbers and yoghurt with olive oil and za'atar.

Ingredients for two

240 g	Frozen cheese bourekas, ready to bake 4 pieces of about 60 g, 2 per person (3 per person if they are small 40 g ones); unbaked, from the freezer section, kosher dairy, preferably made with butter
125 g	Eggs 2 eggs to serve hard-boiled + 15 g of a 3rd beaten egg for glazing (keep the rest in the fridge for 1 day for an omelette)
4 g	Sesame seeds ½ tbsp
200 g	Tomatoes, vine or round 2 medium, very ripe tomatoes, grated, skins discarded (about 170 g pulp)
60 g	Gherkins / small pickled cucumbers 3 small cucumbers pickled in brine or vinegar (khamutsim)
100 g	Cucumbers 1 Israeli cucumber, cut into sticks
300 g	Plain yoghurt, 3% fat (150 g pot) 2 pots of 150 g, one per person
30 g	Lemon ¼ lemon, yielding about 12 g juice, for the yoghurt
8 g	Fresh mint a small handful, about thirty leaves, washed and checked: half in the yoghurt, half left whole on the platter
2 g	Za'atar (hyssop, sumac and sesame blend) 1 level tsp
15 g	Extra virgin olive oil 1½ tbsp: 10 g over the tomato, 5 g over the yoghurt
4 g	Fine salt 1.5 g in the tomato, 2 g in the yoghurt, 0.5 g over the eggs and cucumber
0.3 g	Ground black pepper 1 pinch, over the eggs
10 g	Harissa 2 tsp, or schug, for those who like heat (optional)

Method

Preheat the oven to 190°C fan (200°C conventional), with the shelf in the middle. Bring a small saucepan of water to the boil, lower in 2 eggs with a spoon, reduce to a simmer and cook for 9 minutes: the yolks should be set but still tender in the centre. Immerse them in a bowl of cold water for 5 minutes, then peel.
While the eggs cook, line the baking tray with baking parchment and arrange the still-frozen bourekas on it, 3 cm apart: they will puff up. Beat the 3rd egg with a fork and brush it over the tops of the bourekas (about 15 g is enough), without letting it run onto the paper. Sprinkle with sesame seeds.
Bake for 25–30 minutes without opening the door for the first 20: the pastry should have visibly risen, at least doubling in size, and be golden brown on top and underneath, right into the folds; the cheese should bubble at the seams, and a boureka should sound hollow when lifted. If still pale or soft underneath, bake for another 3 minutes.
Meanwhile, coarsely grate the tomatoes over a bowl, holding the cut sides against the grater, until only the skins remain in your hand; discard the skins. Season the pulp with 1.5 g salt, pour into a small serving dish and drizzle with 10 g olive oil. Beat the yoghurt with the lemon juice, 2 g salt (a generous pinch) and half the finely sliced mint, divide between 2 small bowls, make a groove with a spoon, pour 5 g oil into it and sprinkle with za'atar. Cut the cucumber into sticks and halve the pickled cucumbers lengthways.
Take the bourekas out and leave on the tray for 2 minutes: the cheese will firm up and no longer burn your mouth. Halve the eggs and season with salt and pepper. Serve each person 2 bourekas, an egg, cucumber sticks seasoned with a pinch of salt, and pickled cucumbers, with the yoghurt in a separate bowl to keep the pastry crisp; put the grated tomato, harissa and mint leaves in the middle of the table. Open the bourekas with a fork and spoon some grated tomato inside.

On your plate

Recipe

660 kcal · protein 26 g · carbs 46 g · fat 39 g

Quantities per person

120 g Frozen cheese bourekas, ready to bake
62.5 g Eggs
2 g Sesame seeds
100 g Tomatoes, vine or round
30 g Gherkins / small pickled cucumbers
50 g Cucumbers
150 g Plain yoghurt, 3% fat (150 g pot)
15 g Lemon
4 g Fresh mint
1 g Za'atar (hyssop, sumac and sesame blend)
7.5 g Extra virgin olive oil
2 g Fine salt
0.15 g Ground black pepper
5 g Harissa

Cooking tips

A true Saturday morning platter comes with haminados, which can be prepared the day before or up to 5 days ahead: cover 6 eggs with water, add the dry skins of 3 onions, 1 tbsp ground coffee (or used coffee grounds) and a splash of oil to limit evaporation, then cook for 3 hours over the lowest heat, at a barely visible simmer, topping up the water if needed. The shells turn mahogany, the whites beige and tender, and the yolks creamy; they keep in their shells in the fridge for 5 days, and on the day you can skip cooking the eggs in step 1. Choose butter bourekas rather than margarine ones: the pastry has much more flavour. Reseal the remaining bag and return it to the freezer straight away: thawed bourekas do not rise well. For fresh, already-baked bourekas from a bakery, there is no need for an egg glaze or a long bake: 6–8 minutes at 180°C is enough to crisp them up again. Instead of yoghurt, a glass of well-chilled leben or eshel is the Turkish and Israeli accompaniment to bourekas.

Equipment : oven, baking tray, baking parchment, pastry brush, small saucepan, coarse grater, chopping board and knife, small bowls and serving dishes

Sephardi and Israeli Saturday breakfast: bourekas, haminados, grated tomato and pickled cucumbers. Bourekas came from the Jews of Turkey, Thessaloniki and the Balkans.

Cheese bourekas with a hard-boiled egg, grated tomato and pickled cucumbers

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On your plate

Recipe

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