Puff Pastry Burek Filled with Feta Cheese & Olives

One of the most common snack in Israel is Burek. You can find Burek in every supermarket, in the bakery section. They come with all different fillings--cheese, mushrooms, spinach, feta, olives, mashed potatoes, and more. The smell of childhood is hard to convey, but just think about fresh baked pastries and you'll get the sense of how it is like. I remember going with my Mom to the supermarket and she would always treat me to my favorite Burek, a cheese burek. I tried to create a vegan cheese Burek, and took it up a notch by adding olives. I just love the flakiness of the Burek and the softness of cheese inside. It can't get much better than that. Not a low calorie snack, but a delicious one for sure.

Ingredients:

Puff pastry, 1 roll, 8 oz / 227 g thawed in fridge overnight

Almond feta cheese

5 black olives

Olive oil to brush the burek

Raw sesame seeds

Almond Feta Cheese:

1 cup slivered almonds, soaked overnight and drained

1 clove of garlic

Juice of 1 lemon

2 tablespoons olive oil

1/4 cup water

Directions: 

Feta Cheese:

In a food processor add all the ingredients and let it blend for at least 10 minutes. From time to time stop and scrape the sides. When the texture gets creamy enough, it's ready.

Burek:

Heat oven to 400 F°

In the food processor, add the cheese and olives. Pulse couple times until blended. 

Roll the dough into a flat sheet. Spread the olive cheese evenly. Then roll the dough into a roulade. Slice the roulade into 3/4" pieces. 

Take a baking sheet, lined with a parchment paper.

Lay the burek on the parchment paper, brush with olive oil, sprinkle with sesame seeds and bake for about 30 minutes. Serve warm or in room temperature.