Bosnian cheese pita recipe

Sirnica--a traditional Bosnian cheese pie also known as pita, borek, or burek--is a soft, cheesy pastry that’s delicious in its simplicity. This particular recipe is made of a simple dough wrapped around a cottage cheese mixture, but though the ingredients are few, the taste is quite nice--rivaling that of the best comfort foods. The process of making it is a little involved, and it takes at least two hours from start to finish, but once it’s out of the oven, you’ll be rewarded with 48 little cheese pies to share with your friends or freeze for later.

Amra Sejdic of B.B. Supermarket & Restaurant in Jacksonville says she always watched her mom make pita as a kid, and eventually her mom taught her how to make it. Pita-making knowledge in general is usually passed down from mother to daughter, Amra says, and the recipe varies from family to family.

There are other fillings for pita besides just cottage cheese, such as potatoes, which Amra says adds an extra step of peeling and cubing potatoes. Or you could make pita with a mixture of spinach, cottage cheese, and sour cream, the way Ida Imsirovic, another Jacksonvillian, says her mom makes it.

This recipe, however, is for the cheese pita, and is probably a good starting point for the novice; so wash your hands, strap on your apron, and dive into this scrumptious little slice of Bosnian culture.

Before starting, watch these videos to see how to work the dough. Amra says this part is crucial to making good pita:

• How to Make Pita--The Traditional Bosnian Dish
• Pita
  
• Igor Making Burek
  

Dough
2 ½ pounds all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
Tepid water
½ cup oil to sprinkle on dough
Vegetable oil for pan

Place a clean tablecloth (one that you don’t mind getting flour on) on your work surface. Mix flour and salt in a large bowl, and then make an indentation in the center. Pour the tablespoon of vegetable oil into indentation and mix the oil into the flour and salt with your hands. Gradually pour tepid water into flour mixture while mixing with your hand until a dough forms. Lightly flour your work surface and knead dough to fully mix all the ingredients. 

Divide dough into six equal pieces. Work each piece of dough for a few minutes and form into smooth balls. Watch this video to see how to work the dough. Amra says this part is crucial to making good pita.

After forming the smooth balls, place a little flour under and on top of each ball, and cover them with a cloth. Let rest for 15 minutes.

One at a time, roll out each ball into a large oval, then sprinkle it with a small amount of oil, spread the oil all over it, then fold in half. Cover each with a paper towel and let rest for 15 minutes.

Filling
3 lbs cottage cheese
3 eggs
½ teaspoon salt

Mix cheese, eggs and salt in a bowl.

Keep the ½ cup oil and a knife handy.

One at a time, unfold dough and stretch it slowly over the work surface from the middle to the edges until it’s very thin and about three feet long and two feet wide. Check the aforementioned video for just how thin this dough will be—it’s practically membranous when stretched correctly. Sprinkle with oil all over. Spoon a one-inch wide strip of the cheese mixture along the length of one side, and then fold that strip over. To roll the dough, lift the side of the tablecloth over the edge of the folded cheese portion of the dough until the dough rolls halfway across the dough. Place cheese in a one-inch strip on the opposite side and roll dough from that side as well. Both sides should now be rolled with cheese in the center of each. Cut the two rolls apart with knife to make two separate rolls.

Trim about an inch off each end of the rolls. Starting at one end of a roll, on your work surface, fold about two inches of the roll back on itself, and then it turn the roll again to create an oval spiral. Cut the spiral off and repeat the spiral-making step until you’ve finished the first roll—each roll will yield four pies. Place pies in a single layer in a well-oiled, shallow, heavy pan. You can buy the proper pan at Amra’s family’s store, or you could use a broiler pan sans rack.

Drizzle oil over top of pies.

Heat oven to 500˚. Place pan on bottom rack, and bake for 30 minutes. Periodically check bottom of pies, and if the bottoms start to brown, move pan up a rack. When the pies are golden brown, remove from oven and sprinkle with water, then lightly cover pan with a dish dowel or cloth placemat for 15 minutes.