Bulgarian Breakfast Pastry: Breakfast Banitza

Ingredient list:

Ingredients
12 sheets phyllo dough
8 tablespoons butter
½ lb sirene (Bulgarian cheese) or feta, coarsely crumbled
¾ lb Bulgarian yogurt (preferably sheep’s milk yogurt) (Greek yogurt is an acceptable substitution)
4 whole eggs
1 egg yolk
Salt
Pepper

Try these ingredients for alternate versions!

  • Spanachena banitsa with spinach
  • Tikvenik, with pumpkin, in sweet or savory version
  • luchnik, with leeks and onions
  • praznik, with just leek
  • luchnik, with just onion
  • zelnik, with cabbage
  • mlechna banitsa, with milk in a sweet version
  • kashkavalka, similar to banitsa but filled with kashkaval cheese

Tools needed:
13×9 inch baking pan

Instructions:

Whisk yogurt with 4 whole eggs. Add cheese, salt and pepper and mix. Set aside
Melt the butter.
Coat the baking pan with butter.
Place two sheets on the bottom of the pan, coat with melted butter, place the third sheet on top.
Add approximate 1/4 of the yogurt/egg/cheese mixture.
Place two sheets of Phyllo on top, cover in melted butter, add third Phyllo sheet, and repeat with egg/yogurt/cheese mix. Make 3 layers, topped with the final sheets of Phyllo.

Beat egg yolk with the remaining melted butter and brush the whole banitsa.
Bake at 400F/200C for about 25 minutes.
The banitsa should be golden brown.

Great at any temperature: Hot, cold, or slightly warmed.