This is the king of all boreks in Turkey. "Su" means water in Turkish and the name implies that the fresh pasta leaves used in making the borek are boiled in water. The distinction is necessary because there are many Turkish boreks made using dry fillo leaves, some of which are included in this site. In principal, this borek is very similar to the Italian lasagna made with fresh pasta but it is drier since the borek does not have any sauce between the layers. The main difference is in the filling used (feta cheese and parsley). Probably because it requires much experience and time, it is gradually leaving the home kitchens in Turkey. Nevertheless, su boregi continues to enjoy the highest popularity thanks to the bakeries specializing in making this borek.

Please note that this recipe uses four cooked filo leaves that you can buy at your grocery store in addition to the fresh pasta leaves. If you can find it, use thicker fillo leaves - such as #10 or equivalent.

If you are experienced in making fresh pasta using the manual pasta machines (shown below) or using the pasta attachment available for Kitchen Aid Mixers, you should try this recipe!

Filling:

Crumble the feta cheese using a fork, mix in the chopped parsley, set aside.

Dough:

Mix the flour, eggs and salt in a food processor. You should not need to add any water if you are using extra large eggs. In fact, it is better if you have a dry dough in the form of tiny balls instead of a thick soggy dough.

Empty the contents onto a flat surface and form a ball. Continue kneading until the dough reaches a uniform consistency. The dough should not stick to your hands. If the dough is sticking to the kneading surface and your hangs, add a little more flour to bring the dough to the right consistency. Cut the dogh into 8-10 pieces and use your pasta machine to turn them into leaves using the highest setting of the machine. Let the leaves dry on a rack for 1/2 hr.

Assembly:

Melt the (clarified) butter and the olive oil in a small pan, set aside.

Boil water in a large pot.

Brush the baking tray with the oil/butter mixture evenly. Spread two fillo leaf on the tray. Brush lightly with the oil/butter mixture. You should not brush any oil/butter mixture between the two filo leaves, we want them to stick together.

Place the first freash pasta leaf in the boiling water and cook for 2 - 3 minutes or until its surface area nearly doubles and its color becomes a bright, uniform yellow.

Take the pasta leaf from the boling water and place it on a flat backed colander to drain and cool for a few seconds. Use a paper towel to absorb the excess water. Spread the pasta leaf on the tray. Be sure to give some wrinkles to the leaf when you spread it on the tray. Continue boiling the leaves one by one and stacking them on top of each other. Brush between the layers with the oil/butter mixture.

Spread a small portion of the cheese mixture between the layers.

Finish the top with two layers of fillo leaves.

Brush the top liberally with the butter/oil mixture.

Brush the top with the oil/butter mixture.

Cooking:

Preheat the oven to 450 F. Cook for 30-35 minutes on the middle rack or until the top is golden brown.

Last update: December 26, 2011