Skip to main content
Dessert

Burekas

A pastry made from dough with cheese, spinach, and egg yolk filling, topped with egg yolk and sesame seeds.

From the Recipes Wiki (Fandom) · 12 ingredients
Jump to recipe ↓

Why it works: Spinach and sesame match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 203 recipes. Both carry 2-methoxy-4-vinylphenol, which smells clove, smoky. The science ↓

Burekas

Oven350°F (180°C)
Time15-20 minutes

Ingredients

Directions

Make the dough

  1. Melt the margarine and mix with flour and salt.

  2. Add warm water until able to roll dough.

  3. Roll the dough, cut a leaf, and cut circles with a cup.

Fill and shape

  1. Mix all the stuffing ingredients.

  2. Put one teaspoon of stuffing on each dough circle.

  3. Fold each circle in half.

Bake and serve

  1. Spread yolk on top.

  2. Sprinkle sesame seeds.

  3. Place on a well-greased cookie tray.

  4. Bake at 350°F (180°C) until golden, about 15-20 minutes.

  5. Serve hot.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

988Calories
34 gProtein
50 gFat
98 gCarbs

Counts 8 of 10 ingredients. The other 2 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 8 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Flour1 cup (125g) all-purpose455
Sesame1 tbsp (14g)120
Cheese1 oz (28g) cheddar113
Feta Cheese1 oz (28g) cheddar113
Butter1 tbsp (14g)102
Egg1 large egg (50g)78
Spinach1 cup raw (30g)7
Salt1 tsp (6g)0
Waternot in our table0
Stuffingnot in our table0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Recipes Wiki (Fandom).

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Spinach + sesametop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together203 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-methoxy-4-vinylphenol (clove, smoky).

  2. Flour + spinachtop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,564 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  3. Flour + sesametop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,057 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  4. Flour + eggtop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together106,462 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  5. Cheese + spinachtop 19% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together630 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).

Flour and egg barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 106,462 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Margarine
Adds fat that makes the dough tender and flaky as it bakes.
Self-rising flour
Provides the structure of the dough and helps it rise slightly.
Feta cheese
Adds salty, tangy flavor that contrasts with the pastry.
Cooked spinach
Adds moisture and body to the filling.
Egg yolks
Enrich the filling and, brushed on top, promote browning and a glossy finish.

The step that matters

Bake until golden. Baking at the stated heat until golden sets the dough and browns the egg yolk glaze. Pulling them too early leaves the pastry pale and doughy, while overbaking dries the filling and hardens the edges.

Swap the sesame

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (flour, cheese, spinach, egg):

  1. Chickpeafits better
  2. Lentilsfits about as well
  3. Cashew nutfits about as well
  4. Sesamethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against flour, cheese, spinach, egg. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

You might also like

Cheese BallsCheese Balls97 recipesCheese CakeCheese Cake55 recipesCream CheeseCream Cheese46 recipesLemon PieLemon Pie37 recipes