Penjurlije (yeasted sheep's cheese pastries)
A Balkan yeasted pastry, a soft dough rolled thin and filled with crumbled sheep's feta and egg, rolled into a coil and baked until the outside is crisp and the cheese inside has turned salty and soft. Sheep's feta is genuinely different from cow's milk feta here, sharper and more distinct, and worth seeking out.
Prep45 min
Cook30 min
Rest75 min
Oven190°C
Servings10
Christoph's Balkan sheep's cheese pastry, written to insist on real sheep's feta rather than the milder cow's milk kind.
Ingredients
Written for a 28 cm round tin
Units
Temperature
Servings
Dough
- 400 g flour rounded
- 6 g fine salt rounded
- 7 g instant yeast rounded
- 220 ml lukewarm water rounded
- 40 ml olive oil rounded
Filling
- 400 g sheep's feta, crumbled rounded
- 3 eggs rounded
- 40 ml neutral oil rounded
- to taste freshly ground black pepper rounded
To finish
- 1 egg, beaten, for glazing rounded
- 10 g sesame seeds (optional) rounded
Dietary labels are a guide, not a guarantee. If you have an allergy, read the ingredients yourself.
Method
- Whisk the flour, salt and yeast together, then add the lukewarm water and olive oil. Knead by hand or with a dough hook for 8 minutes, until smooth and soft. Cover and prove in a warm spot for 45 minutes, until roughly doubled.
- Whisk the crumbled feta, eggs, oil and pepper together until roughly combined; it should look loose and slightly curdled, not smooth.
- Divide the dough into 4 pieces. Roll each piece out very thin, into a long, wide strip, on a floured surface.
- Spread a quarter of the filling along one long edge of each strip, then roll up tightly into a rope.
- Coil each rope into a loose spiral, joining the ends of the ropes to make one large spiral, or keeping them as separate smaller ones, on a lined baking sheet or round tin. Let rest, covered, for 15 minutes.
- Brush with the beaten egg and scatter with sesame seeds, if using.
- Bake at 190°C for 25 to 30 minutes, until deep golden brown and crisp. Rest 5 minutes before cutting.
Notes
- Roll the dough as thin as you comfortably can. Thicker dough gives a bready result closer to a filled roll; thin dough is what gives the pastry its characteristic crisp, flaky layers when coiled.
- A slightly curdled-looking filling is correct. The eggs and feta are not meant to emulsify smoothly; they set together as they bake into a soft, salty filling.
- Real sheep’s feta is worth finding for this specifically. It has a sharper, more distinct flavour than the cow’s milk feta most commonly sold, and this dish is built to show it off.
- It keeps for 2 days at room temperature, covered, and reheats well in a moderate oven; the crisp layers soften in a microwave.
Ingredient substitutions
- Sheep’s feta can be cow’s milk feta if that is all that is available, though the flavour will be milder.
- A handful of chopped fresh dill or parsley stirred into the filling is a common, good addition.
- For a spinach version, wilt 200 g of spinach, squeeze it very dry, and fold it into the cheese filling.
- Sesame seeds on top can be nigella seeds for a more traditional, slightly bitter finish.
From Christoph Mayer