What is Banitsa (баница)? It’s one of many Bulgarian traditional and popular dishes. This is the Bulgarian style of Cheese Pie in a more savory taste 😋 😍
Usually, it is prepared or served during Christmas and New Year’s Eve with good luck charms added to bring more fun and excitement during the celebration. You can either have it with a coin or handwritten fortunes wrapped in a foil. As a result, everyone is happy, and so as the tummy too.
After multiple tries of homemade Banitsa by Dada (my father-in-law), I totally fell in love with the taste and the texture of this dough. Definitely not so typical from what I’ve seen so far and especially the taste. But with the circular pattern of the dough and once you cut it, you will see the multiple layers, it’s just amazing!
Simple ingredients yet can blow your mind away with how much yummy this dish. And because of that, my curiosity kicks in, yes! I want to try making this traditional dish in Singapore 😁😍👩🍳
One of the ingredients that can be a bit challenging to purchase or find here in Singapore would be the Phyllo Sheets (Fillo Pastry), thankfully my Bulgarian friend informed me which grocery or online shops that I can potentially buy… I haven’t tried to buy it here yet because the one I got was all the way from Bulgaria when we’re there.
The tricky part of making this Banitsa is first when you have a bad quality of Phyllo sheets (not fresh or been frozen for a longer time), thus it will likely cut into pieces easily, therefore, your banitsa will not fold fully.
Second, is that I’ve learned to make this dish, though the taste was absolutely delish – using sunflower oil or unsalted butter really well recommended. I used Olive oil from my first attempt, as a result, the smell was so strong (not in a bad way) 😅😁
Lastly, since it’s quite hot here in Singapore; need to speed up rolling the phyllo sheets to avoid flattening the sheets and melting the filling…
My Banitsa On The Making 😅😁
Let’s get started!!!
TOTAL TIME: 1 HR AND 50 MINS. MAX. 2HRS
SERVINGS: 10-12 SLICES DEPENDING ON THE SIZE
Ingredients
▪️ 2/3 cup of sunflower oil or unsalted butter
▪️ 5 eggs
▪️ 400 gms of Greek Feta Cheese or Sirene (Bulgarian White Brined Cheese)
▪️ 500 gms of Greek Yogurt
▪️ 1 tsp baking soda
▪️ 1 pack or 500 gms of Phyllo Sheet
▪️ 1 – 2 tbsp of Sparkling Water or Carbonated Water
My Version of Banitsa 😅😁
Dada’s Version of Banitsa 😍😋
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, beat 4 eggs.
First, add the yogurt and next, whisk until smooth. - Second, crumble the feta but not too small size, to have some sort of cube size will be good for filling.
- Third, mix the crumbled feta cheese, baking soda, and sparkling water/carbonated water along with eggs and yogurt. Don’t overmix as it will melt the feta cheese quickly.
- There are 2 ways to prepare your Phyllo sheets on the table, either first; dust it with flour or second; use the plastic cover of the Phyllo sheet, unroll.
- Before brushing the top sheet with oil, first, flip the next sheet and then, gently brush with oil, each of the corner side.
After that, back to the top sheet, and then gently brush with oil the entire sheet especially the corner. The purpose of doing that to ensure that the next sheet won’t stick - Next, add 3 1/2 tablespoons of feta yogurt mix to fit in the sheet then, lightly brush it to ensure that all crumbled feta cheese will be distributed accordingly.
Next, roll the sheet from one corner to another and place it to the corner of the round pan. Repeat the same steps for the remaining sheets until you fill-up the round pan. - Once completed, beat the remaining 1 egg and brush it on top of the sheets until it fully coated. Follow the same thing with the remaining oil, brush it on the sheets till fully coated.
- Heat the oven on 180C/356F and put the banitsa inside the oven.
- Let it bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour until the top is golden brown. Or until the wooden toothpick inserted in the center and comes out clean.
- Allow to cool down for about 30 mins. And ready to serve.
TIP: To make sure that you fit all sheets in a round pan, use 11″ x 3″ round tin/pan. Or else, you can do as what I did as you can see on the photos, I used aluminum foil to make the sheets stick together from the center.
Dada’s Banitsa Recipe (Bulgarian Cheese Pie)
Ingredients
- 2/3 cup Sunflower oil or melted unsalted butter
- 5 pcs Eggs
- 400 gms Greek Feta Cheese or Sirene (Bulgarian White Brined Cheese)
- 500 gms Greek Yogurt or Bulgarian Yogurt (if you have)
- 1 tsp Baking soda
- 1 pack Or 500 gms of Phyllo Sheet
- 1 tbsp To 2 tbsp of Sparkling Water or Carbonated Water
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, beat 4 eggs.First, add the yogurt and next, whisk until smooth.
- Second, crumble the feta but not too small size, to have some sort of cube size will be good for filling.
- Third, mix the crumbled feta cheese, baking soda, and sparkling water/carbonated water along with eggs and yogurt. Don’t overmix as it will melt the feta cheese quickly.
- There are 2 ways to prepare your Phyllo sheets on the table, either first; dust it with flour or second; use the plastic cover of the Phyllo sheet, unroll.
- Before brushing the top sheet with oil, first, flip the next sheet and then, gently brush with oil, each of the corner side.After that, back to the top sheet, and then gently brush with oil the entire sheet especially the corner. The purpose of doing that to ensure that the next sheet won’t stick
- Next, add 3 1/2 tablespoons of feta yogurt mix to fit in the sheet then, lightly brush it to ensure that all crumbled feta cheese will be distributed accordingly.Next, roll the sheet from one corner to another and place it to the corner of the round pan. Repeat the same steps for the remaining sheets until you fill-up the round pan.
- Once completed, beat the remaining 1 egg and brush it on top of the sheets until it fully coated. Follow the same thing with the remaining oil, brush it on the sheets till fully coated.
- Heat the oven on 180C/356F and put the banitsa inside the oven.
- Let it bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour until the top is golden brown. Or until the wooden toothpick inserted in the center and comes out clean.
- Allow to cool down for about 30 mins. And ready to serve.TIP: To make sure that you fit all sheets in a round pan, use 11″ x 3″ round tin/pan. Or else, you can do as what I did as you can see on the photos, I used aluminum foil to make the sheets stick together from the center.
Video
My Version of Banitsa 😅😁
Not bad at first attempt, the result, it’s delicious and yummy but definitely not yet the same as my Dada’s. Definitely requires more practice 😁
Have you tried any other countries’ traditional dishes? If so, make sure to drop a comment below! I want to know 😍
Dada’s Version of Banitsa 😍😋
😋😋😋
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Photographs
All photos and videos taken by me and only using my iPhone. Basic filter used and portrait mode – to enhance the quality of the subject.
