
Coiled Banitsa with Sparkling Water
A spiral (snail) Bulgarian cheese banitsa poured over with a yogurt-and-sparkling-water mixture for an extra juicy, airy crumb.
Ingredients
| 500 g | phyllo (banitsa) sheets | |
| 400 g | white cheese (feta) | |
| 1 cup | 240 ml | flour |
| 400 ml | yogurt | |
| 4-5 | eggs (depending on size) | |
| 200 g | cow butter or margarine | |
| 1/2 tsp | 2.5 ml | baking soda |
| — | salt | |
| 100 ml | yogurt (for the topping) | |
| 1/2 cup | 120 ml | sparkling water (for the topping) |
| 1 | egg (for the topping) |
Instructions
Note: Use Edirne (fine) phyllo sheets. Brush each sheet well with butter. Once rolled, brush it with butter on top too, then pour over as described! Beat the eggs and add the crumbled cheese, the yogurt, the flour and 2/3 of the melted margarine. Sprinkle each sheet with fat, spread some of the filling and roll it into a log. Place it in the centre of a greased round tin in a snail (spiral) shape. Repeat the procedure until the tin is filled. Beat the remaining egg together with the yogurt and the sparkling water, and pour this mixture over the banitsa. After the banitsa is drenched with the mixture, turn on the oven to preheat; during this time the banitsa will absorb part of the liquid and become even juicier. Bake for about 40 minutes in an oven preheated to 180 degrees, until a crisp golden crust forms. Notes: If you want the banitsa to stay fluffy, as it was during baking, use the following trick by making a so-called "inverted banitsa". After you take the baked sparkling-water banitsa out of the oven, turn the tin over onto three little bowls, taking care that only the rim of the tin rests on them. Another option is to flip the tin onto another rectangular tray. This way the banitsa will not sink and will stay juicy and airy.