Coiled Beef Burek with Yoghurt Dip

⏱ 75 min · Serves 6

A golden, shatteringly crisp spiral of filo packed with spiced minced beef and onion, brushed with butter and baked until burnished. Serve warm in fat wedges with a garlicky yoghurt dip — the Balkan bakery classic, made at home.

Per serving: 610 kcal · 28.0g protein · 41.0g carbs · 36.0g fat

Ingredients

• 500g minced beef (around 15% fat)
• 2 medium onions, finely chopped
• 2 tbsp sunflower oil
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 tsp sweet paprika
• 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
• 1/4 tsp cayenne (optional)
• 1 1/4 tsp salt
• 3 tbsp cold water
• 2 tbsp chopped flat-leaf parsley
• 375g filo pastry (about 8-10 large sheets), thawed
• 100g butter, melted
• 2 tbsp sunflower oil (for mixing with butter)
• 1 tbsp sesame or nigella seeds
• For the dip: 300g thick Greek-style yoghurt
• 1 small garlic clove, crushed
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• pinch of salt

Method

1. Heat the 2 tbsp oil in a large frying pan and cook the onions over medium heat for 8-10 minutes until soft and golden but not browned. Add the garlic for 1 minute.
2. Tip the onions into a bowl. Add the raw minced beef, paprika, pepper, cayenne, salt, cold water and parsley. Mix thoroughly with your hands until loose and paste-like — the raw filling steams inside the pastry and stays juicy.
3. Heat the oven to 200C/180C fan. Mix the melted butter with the 2 tbsp oil. Brush a 28cm round cake tin or roasting tin generously.
4. Lay one filo sheet on the worktop with a long edge towards you and brush lightly with the butter mix. Lay a second sheet on top and brush again.
5. Spoon a 2cm-thick sausage of filling along the long edge, 3cm in from the edge, leaving 3cm clear at each end. Fold the ends in, then roll up into a long loose rope. Don't roll tightly or it will burst.
6. Coil the rope into the centre of the tin. Repeat with the remaining filo and filling, joining each new rope onto the end of the last, spiralling outwards to fill the tin.
7. Brush the whole coil generously with the remaining butter mix and scatter with sesame or nigella seeds.
8. Bake for 40-45 minutes until deep golden and crisp. If it colours too fast, drop the heat to 180C for the last 15 minutes.
9. Meanwhile stir the yoghurt with garlic, lemon juice and salt. Chill.
10. Rest the burek for 10 minutes, then cut into wedges and serve warm with the yoghurt dip.