Sigara Bouregibourek Turkish Cheese Cigars Recipes

TURKISH CHEESE AND HERB CIGARS

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Mash the farmer's cheese, feta and mozzarella together in a bowl using a fork. Work the egg in with the fork, then stir in the parsley, dill, chives, lemon zest and a large pinch of black pepper.
• Put a damp, clean towel on your counter. Unfold the phyllo sheets on top and cover with another damp, clean towel.
• Put 1 sheet of phyllo on a cutting board with the long side closest to you and brush lightly with butter. Top with another sheet of phyllo and brush lightly with butter. Top with a third sheet of phyllo and brush lightly with butter. Cut the phyllo in half crosswise, then cut each half horizontally into thirds. Place the rectangles on a baking sheet and set aside. Repeat with the remaining phyllo.
• Working with one buttered phyllo stack at a time, spread a heaping tablespoon of cheese along the long edge of each rectangle, leaving a 1/2-inch border at each end. Fold the sides over the filling, then roll up from the bottom edge of the phyllo. Transfer rolled cigars to a baking sheet seam-side down and brush each with a little butter. Repeat with the remaining phyllo, filling and butter.
• Bake the cigars, rotating the pan halfway through, until crispy and golden-brown, about 25 minutes. Transfer to a serving platter and serve.

SIGARA BOUREGI/BOUREK TURKISH CHEESE CIGARS

Steps:

• Prepare the filling by mixing the cheese, parsley, half the egg, salt, and pepper. You can do this with a hand mixer or food processor/blender, or a fork if you want to give your arms a good workout. Set aside into a bowl.
• Lay the 3 phyllo sheets down on top of each other on a clean surface. With a knife (or ease, a pizza cutter) slice them vertically down the middle to get 2 long, even rectangles. Slice each rectangle diagonally to get 12 even, thin triangles.
• Take one phyllo triangle and place it so that its shorter side is closer to you and place a table spoon of filling along the opposite end of the triangle (not the pointy part facing you.).
• Tuck the bottom of the triangle over the filling then roll up into a thin cigar (you'll be flattening it a little.) Wet the pointy tip of the triangle with water for sealing and place on a baking sheet coated in foil or parchment paper.
• Repeat this until you have no more filling or phyllo left; should have 12 "cigars".
• Brush each cigar completely with half the egg, then the olive oil. To make sure the bottoms cook, I prefer to line my casserole pan with foil and put some of this egg-olive oil mixture all over the foil.
• Bake at 450F for 12-15 minutes or until golden-brown. Goes great with red lentil soup!

SIGARA BöREGI

Steps:

• For the filling, mash the feta cheese with a fork and mix with the egg and herbs.
• Take out the sheets of fillo only when you are ready to use them, as they dry out. Cut the sheets into 4 rectangles each, about 12 by 4 inches, and put them in a pile on top of each other. Brush the top strip lightly with oil or melted butter. Take a heaping teaspoon of filling and place it at one of the 4-inch or shortest ends of the strip in a thin sausage shape along the edge-about 1 inch from it and 1 inch from the side edges (1). Roll up the top sheet with the filling inside like a cigarette (2). Turn the ends in when you've rolled it about a third of the way to trap the filling (3), then continue to roll (4). Repeat with the remaining fillo sheets.
• Place the cigars close to each other on a greased baking sheet and brush the tops with oil or melted butter and bake at 350°F for 30 minutes, or until crisp and golden.
• Serve hot.