Hello Raffies!
It is time for dinner again and this time we are going to Albania!
Trying to vary a bit from eternal meat throughout the challenge, I have added several vegetarian dishes. One of them is this awesome Albanian Byrek. It is basically a pie made out of phillo dough, feta cheese and spinach. It was so delicious that we almost ate up the whole pie in one single meal.
If you are curious and want to try this dish at home, here is the recipe I used.
Ingredients
1 package filo dough (you can also use puff pastry, if you cannot find filo, but the result will be slightly different)
1 kg fresh spinach
300 g feta, diced
150 g chopped green onions
2 eggs
salt
pepper
olive oil
Preheat your oven at 180°C. Take out a baking pan and brush it with olive oil. Start layering the filo leaves in it. I used a pie form, to make my byrek round. Layer half the leaves, brushing with oil every two or three leaves.
Wash your spinach and briefly cook it in a pan with a little water, to reduce its volume. Squeeze dry and chop. Mix it with salt and pepper. Add the crumbled feta cheese, green onions, some oil and the eggs.
Pour the mixture into the baking form and cover with the remaining layers, repeating the same procedure as before. Roll the hanging edges, like you would with a pie to close it. Brush with some oil and bake for approximately 45 minutes at 180°C.
Serve hot. You can serve it as a starter, or accompanied with a salad or some meat, if you like.
See you for the following country!
Love,
Raffi