Spinach Pita, another Bosnian Recipe

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Pita is the ultimate Bosnian food. Every mother, wife, grandmother, aunt and so on makes pita regularly. It is sort of the standard fare for the week. This recipe is passed on to me from my mum and its her adaptation pita. There are so many things you can do with it but the main 4 are cheese (sirnica), spinach (zeljanica), potato (krompirusa) & meat (burek). I plan on sharing all these recipes at some point but the start here is the spinach (with cheese) pita recipe.

You will need-

• A pack of fresh filo -don't buy frozen as it breaks and is a nightmare to work with.
• 3 eggs
• 600g cottage cheese
• 300ml creme fraiche
• 250g frozen spinach - defrosted and drained
• olive oil

Pre-heat your oven to around 180C then brush some olive oil in your baking trays. Then get your filo pastry out. If they are big sheets cut them in half.

Whisk your eggs and then add the creme fraiche and stir.

Now add the cottage cheese and stir again.

Place your spinach in a food processor and give it a whizz for a few seconds. You want pieces of spinach rather than just a puree.

Mix the spinach in with the egg and cheese mixture. Now its time to start making the pita. You need a tablespoon of mixture for each piece of filo. Spread it out evenly.

Now comes to rolling. Fold over the top and bottom of the filo so they nearly meet in the middle.

Now very loosely roll the filo up from one end and place in your baking tray.

Repeat until you have used up all of your filo/mixture. Then brush the pita lightly with olive oil or melted  butter.

Cook for around 20-25 minutes until nice and golden brown and puffed up. 

 Leave to cool for a couple of minutes and then serve alone or with salad and soured cream or creme fraiche. Place left overs in the fridge and eat as a packed lunch or snack either hot or cold.

Photographs courtesy of Imogen Freeland