Bulgarian Banitsa

Name: Bulgarian Banitsa
Prep time: 20 minutes
Ingredients: Ingredients1 package phyllo dough 400 g; 3/4 pound feta cheese 350 g; 7 eggs; 1 cup plain yogurt 250 g; ½ cup water; 4 tablespoons butter melted or avocado oil; ½ teaspoon baking soda

This is grandma's recipe for Bulgarian banitsa. A crispy phyllo dough, cheese, and egg pie baked in the oven and a total crowd pleaser.

This recipe is Super Easy with main ingredient Veggie

Baba Dani makes the best banitsa recipe which is a staple of the Bulgarian diet. Banitsa is a phyllo dough pie stuffed with feta cheese, eggs, and yogurt.

Banitsa is really easy to make and can feed a crowd of hungry folks. You can even make variations by adding ground meat or cooked butternut squash.

How To Make Bulgarian Banitsa

To start, mix the eggs, yogurt, feta cheese in large bowl until creamy. Add the water, baking soda, and a couple tablespoons of avocado oil. Mix well and and set aside.

Grab the biggest baking pan you have, ideally round. You may have to use two 9x16 baking dishes if you don;t have a large round one. Spoon a bit of mixture on the bottom of the baking dish and spread it thin from edge to edge.

Grab one layer of phyllo dough and gently bundle it together like a ball and fill the bottom of the baking dish with a bunch of these balls. Spoon enough egg mixture over to make it wet and repeat with another layer of phyllo balls covered in egg mixture.

Top with 3 sheets of phyllo, each one covered with egg mixture then add some slices of butter all over the top. Allow the banitsa to rest for 15 minutes and preheat the oven to 420F.

Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until the banitsa is deep golden brown. If it gets too much color while baking, cover with tin foil or parchment paper.

When the banitsa comes out of the oven, flip it over and allow it to rest upside down for 20 minutes before eating. You will need to rest the pan on two bowls or something so the pan can hang and the banitsa doesn't get smashed. Enjoy!

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Ingredients

1 package phyllo dough 400 g
3/4 pound feta cheese 350 g
7 eggs
1 cup plain yogurt 250 g
½ cup water
4 tablespoons butter melted or avocado oil
½ teaspoon baking soda

Instructions

In a large bowl, break up the feta cheese using a fork as much as possible. Add the eggs and mix well. Then add the yogurt along with the baking soda and mix again. Then add the melted butter or oil and mix well. Finally, add the water and mix again.
Get the largest baking pan you have (a 13’’ round pan is traditional, but you can user a 9’’ x 13’’ pan), use two spoons of the mixture to lightly cover the bottom from edge to edge. The idea is to have the phyllo stick so when the banitsa is flipped upside down after baking it doesn’t fall out.
Grab one sheet of phyllo dough and crinkle it into a loose ball and place in the pan. Continue doing this until the bottom of the pan is covered (you’ll need about 7 sheets). Using a spoon add about half of the egg mixture making sure to cover the phyllo layer nicely. Then add more crinkled phyllo sheets on top (you’ll need about 5 sheets) for this second layer. Spoon over the rest of the egg mixture (making sure to save 4-5 tablespoons). Add 3 more sheets of phyllo flat across the top of the pan and tuck the edges of the phyllo along the edge of the pan. Spoon over the rest of the egg mixture from edge to edge making sure the top layer is quite wet.
Preheat oven to 390F, while letting the banitsa sit at room temperature for 15 minutes then bake in the oven for 26-30 minutes, or until the top is deep golden brown. If the top gets too dark place a sheet of tin foil or parchment over it.
Remove banitsa from oven and carefully flip it upside down. It’s easier if you balance the pan on a couple of bowls so there is a gap between the pan and the counter while it is hanging upside down. You may skip this step of flipping the banitsa over, but it will deflate and won’t get fluffy.
Allow to cool upside down for 20 minutes then enjoy!