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These Sephardic pastries are crispy, savory, cheesy heaven.
Bourekas, boyos and bulemas are flaky, savory pastries, and just might be the crowning jewel of the Sephardic kitchen. Potato or eggplant bourekas, cheese boyos or spinach and cheese bulemas are traditionally served as part of the Sabbath desayuno(Ladino for “breakfast,” and a tradition in communities of the former Ottoman empire). These trademark baked goods are usually accompanied by Kalamata olives, kashkaval cheese and huevos haminados, eggs that have been baked overnight with onion skins, oil and pepper to achieve a golden-brown color and a wonderfully smoky, caramelized flavor.
Bulemas are related to “bollos de pan,” a dishinvented in the Sephardic kitchen as a way to use up stale bread. (“Bollos” in Spanish means balls and “pan” means bread.) By soaking the bread in milk, flavoring it with spices and cheese, rolling the resulting dough into balls and then frying, the Sephardic Jews who settled in Istanbul and Izmir created a flavorful snack. Bolloswere so popular that soon cooks replaced stale bread with a dedicated flaky, crusty dough just for them. Along the way, the spelling changed to boyos. Boyos or boyikos de keso are a delicious cheese pastry that incorporates cheese in the dough.
Bulemas, which confusingly are sometimes also called boyos, are made with the same dough. The dough is rolled out flat, sprinkled with Parmesan cheese, stuffed with a fresh spinach and feta cheese filling, rolled into a snail-like coil, brushed with an egg wash and sprinkled with finely grated Romano cheese. The bulemas are quickly baked in a very hot oven and the result is crispy, flaky, cheesy heaven.
Making bulemas is a time-consuming endeavor but they are so worth the effort. They are a perfect food to serve as an appetizer, hors d’oeuvres, snack or as a light meal with salad. Bulemas are one of those foods that store beautifully in the freezer and can be reheated and still taste absolutely perfect. So grab a baking partner, triple the recipe, and spend a morning kneading, rolling and stuffing dough to bake some delicious bulemas.
Notes:
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- While fresh spinach is preferable, frozen spinach can be substituted. Ensure that it is defrosted and all liquid squeezed out.
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- Freeze cooled bulemas in a tightly sealed container or freezer bag. To reheat, preheat oven to 350°F, place frozen bulemas on a parchment-lined baking sheet and bake for 10-15 minutes
Cheese and Spinach Bulemas
Ingredients
For the filling:
- 2½ lbs fresh baby spinach finely chopped
- 1 cup feta cheese crumbled
- 1 cup Romano or Parmesan cheese finely grated
For the dough:
- 1 cup warm water
- 1 tsp active dry yeast
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1 Tbsp vegetable or avocado oil
- 1 tsp salt
- 4 cup all-purpose flour
For baking:
- 1 cup vegetable oil
- 1 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese
- 1 egg beaten, for egg wash
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, combine the spinach, cheeses and flour. Set aside.
- Preheat oven to 400°F.
- In a large bowl, combine the water, yeast and sugar and let proof for 10 minutes.
- Combine the oil with the salt and add to the yeast mixture.
- Using a standing mixer with a dough hook or by hand, start incorporating the flour, one cup at a time. Dough should come together in 3-5 minutes and be just a bit sticky.
- Pour vegetable oil onto a baking sheet until it reaches halfway up the sides.
- Roll the dough into golf-ball-sized pieces, then place on the baking sheet and leave covered with towel for an hour.
- Using a small rolling pin, roll out the dough as thinly as possible, then sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.
- Add a little of the filling and roll the dough like a jelly roll.
- Coil the roll into a snail and place on a baking sheet. Repeat to make all the bulemas.
- Brush with egg wash and sprinkle with grated cheese.
- Place in the oven and bake until the bulemas are a golden brown, about 15 minutes.
Notes
- While fresh spinach is preferable, frozen spinach can be substituted. Ensure that it is defrosted and all liquid squeezed out.
- Freeze cooled bulemas in a tightly sealed container or freezer bag. To reheat, preheat oven to 350°F, place frozen bulemas on a parchment-lined baking sheet and bake for 10-15 minutes.