Editor's note: The recipe and introductory text below are excerpted from Joan Nathan's book The Foods of Israel Today. Nathan also shared some helpful cooking tips exclusively with Epicurious, which we've added at the bottom of the page.

　　To read more about Nathan and Israeli cuisine, click here.

　　I remember with pleasure the Turkish Spinach burekas we ate every Friday morning when I worked in the Jerusalem municipality. The ritual was as follows: Simontov, the guard at the front door downstairs, would appear carrying a bronze tray with Turkish coffee and the heavenly, flaky pastries filled with spinach or cheese, called filikas in Ladino. It is rare today to have such delicious burekas, in Jerusalem or anywhere else in Israel. Most of the dough is commercially produced puff pastry, much thicker and less flaky than the homemade phyllo used to be. A few places, like Burekas Penzo in Tel Aviv (near Levinsky Street), which has been making the pastries by hand in the Turkish style for more than thirty years, produce a close second to those I remember from my days in Jerusalem. Various Ladino names like bulemas and boyos differentiate fillings and distinguish a Jewish bureka from a Turkish one. If you can find the thick phyllo dough, that works well. Otherwise, try this. My fifteen-year-old makes and sells them for fifty cents a piece. They are great!

　　

Ingredients

Yield: About 60 <i>bureka</i> triangles

　　1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted

　　16-ounce package phyllo dough, thawed

　　Filling of your choice (see recipes below)

　　1 large egg

　　Black or regular sesame seeds for sprinkling

　　

Step 1

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

　　

Step 2

2. Using a pastry brush, coat the bottom of a cookie sheet with some of the melted butter.

　　

Step 3

3. Take a sheet of phyllo and cut lengthwise in strips, 4 1/2 inches wide. Butter the strips, fold over lengthwise, butter again, and place a tablespoon of filling on the end. Then fold up right to left as you would a flag, so that the end result is a plump triangle, buttering the outside at the end. Repeat with the remaining filling and dough. Beat the egg, brush the burekas with it, and sprinkle sesame seeds over the tops.

　　

Step 4

4. Place on the cookie sheet and bake for 20 minutes or until golden in color.

　　

Step 5

NOTE You can also mold and freeze the burekas after forming. Defrost for 2 hours and then bake. You can fill any leftover phyllo with chocolate chips or Nutella and make triangular treats.

　　

Step 6

THREE WAYS TO FILL A BUREKA

　　

Spinach Filling

Step 7

Yield: About 2 cups, enough filling for about 20 burekas

　　

Step 8

2 pounds fresh spinach or Swiss chard leaves, washed well, or two 10-ounce packages chopped frozen spinach

　　2 large eggs, beaten lightly

　　1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese

　　1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese

　　1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

　　2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill

　　8 scallions, diced

　　Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

　　

Step 9

1. Place the fresh spinach or Swiss chard leaves in a frying pan with only the water that clings to the leaves, and cook briefly until they wilt. (If using frozen spinach, simply defrost.) Drain very well, squeezing out as much of the water as possible. Cool and chop.

　　

Step 10

2. Mix together the eggs, feta and cheddar cheeses, parsley, dill, and scallions. Add the spinach and salt and pepper to taste; mix well.

　　

Step 11

3. Use about 1 tablespoon of filling for each bureka.

　　

Eggplant Filling

Step 12

Yield: About 2 cups, enough filling for about 20 burekas

　　

Step 13

2 medium eggplants (about 2 pounds)

　　1/3 cup kasseri or feta cheese, crumbled

　　1/3 cup grated sheep or mozzarella cheese

　　1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro or parsley Salt to taste

　　

Step 14

1. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Prick the skin of the eggplants all over and roast on an oiled cookie sheet for 25 minutes, turning occasionally.

　　

Step 15

2. Remove the pulp from the skin, discarding the seeds and draining off any extra liquid. Cool slightly, then pat dry and coarsely chop. Combine the eggplant pulp, cheeses, and cilantro or parsley and mash well with a fork; add salt if needed.

　　

Step 16

3. Use about 1 tablespoon of filling for each bureka.

　　

Cheese Filling

Step 17

Yield: About 2 cups, enough filling for about 20 burekas

　　

Step 18

2 large eggs

　　1 cup grated cheddar cheese

　　1 cup crumbled feta cheese

　　Freshly ground pepper to taste

　　

Step 19

1. Beat the eggs in a small bowl. Add the cheddar and feta cheeses and pepper to taste. Mix well.

　　

Step 20

2. Use about 1 tablespoon of filling for each bureka.

　　

Step 21

Joan Nathan shares her tips with Epicurious:

　　•These pastries came to Israel with Sephardic Jews from Turkey and Greece. The first filling is more Greek-influenced, while the other two are more Turkish.

　　•Nathan recommends a high-quality Greek feta cheese and a sharp cheddar for the fillings.

　　•After folding up the burekas flag-style, be sure to pinch around the edges of each pastry to avoid filling spilling out during baking.

　　Reprinted with permission from The Foods of Israel Today by Joan Nathan, copyright © 2001. Published by Knopf.