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Israel, Middle East and Africa · Cheese Bourekas

Bourekas Breakfast Sandwich

A big feta-filled boureka split open and stacked with tahini, grated tomato, a jammy egg, pickles and za'atar: the Tel Aviv café breakfast.

ServingsServes 2
Total cooking time38 min
DifficultyMedium
About servingsJammy eggs have soft, not fully set yolks. Young children, pregnant women and older people should have fully cooked eggs.

Method

  1. Thaw the puff pastry until it bends without cracking. Preheat the oven to 200 °C and line a tray with baking paper.

    oven

  2. Dust the surface, roll the pastry to 3 mm and cut 14 cm squares (2 × 14 cm). Crumble the feta evenly over one half of each square, leaving a 1.5 cm border. Fold in half into a 14 × 7 cm rectangle and seal the edges with a fork.

    Add in this stepFrozen puff pastry, thawed 240 gFlour for dusting 1 tbspFeta 60 g

  3. Beat the egg for the wash, brush it thinly over the tops only and sprinkle with sesame.

    Add in this stepEgg (for the egg wash) 1Sesame seeds 2 tsp

  4. Bake in the oven for , until well puffed, deep golden and crisp underneath. Cool on a rack for 5 minutes.

    oven

  5. While they bake, bring enough water to cover the eggs to the boil in a 16 cm pot. Lower the eggs straight from the fridge in with a ladle and cook on medium-high heat for . Move them to iced water for 3 minutes, then peel. The yolks will be soft and jammy.

    Add in this stepEggs (for jammy eggs) 2

    medium-high heat

  6. Halve the tomatoes and grate the cut sides on a box grater, discarding the skins; season with the salt. In another bowl, stir the tahini, lemon juice and cold water into a smooth sauce.

    Add in this stepSmall ripe tomatoes 2Salt 1 pinchTahini 2 tbspLemon juice 2 tspCold water 2 tbsp

  7. Slice each boureka open horizontally with a knife. Spread the bottom with tahini sauce, spoon on the grated tomato and top with the halved jammy egg and pickles. Sprinkle with za'atar, close and eat straight away.

    Add in this stepPickled cucumber slices 4Za'atar 1 tsp

Cook's tip

Let the bourekas cool for the full 5 minutes before filling, or the steam turns them soggy. Grated tomato is juicy, so add it at the last moment. Prefer a firm yolk? Boil the eggs for 9 minutes instead.

Cooking it at camp

Bake the bourekas at home and warm them in a pan on the grill; boil the eggs on the camp stove. Bring the tahini sauce in a jar and grate the tomatoes on site. Keep raw eggs in the cooler.