The Turkish börek is a simple, but delicious and versatile savory pastry. I have tried them with all different kinds of fillings: spinach, lentils, cheese, meat, and potatoes. It’s one of my must-haves when I travel to Turkey.
But I can’t even wait until I visit again to enjoy their flaky goodness…so I settled for my homemade version. Böreks are traditionally made with a dough similar to phyllo, called yufka.
I have yet to try ordering yufka from an online Turkish grocery store so phyllo dough would have to stand in.
Patates Böreği
Ingredients
Thawed sheets of phyllo dough
6 to 8 baby gold potatoes
Goat cheese crumbles
Salt & pepper
Marjoram
Oregano
Garlic powder
Milk or half n half
Olive oil
egg yolk
Poppy seeds
Directions
1. Boil, drain, and mash the potatoes. Mix in a splash of milk or half n half, goat cheese, and seasonings.
2. In a small bowl, mix a little olive oil and milk. The ratio should be about 3:1.
3. Stack 3 square- shaped sheets in top of each, brushing each with the olive oil mixture before laying on top of the other. The phyllo sheets I buy are rectangles, so I had to cut them down into squares.
4. Spread some of the potato mixture onto the dough. Be gentle, as the dough can easily tear.
5. Fold the dough diagonally at the corners, making a large triangle. Then fold again to make a smaller triangle. Cut in half.
6. Repeat each step until you have as many börek as you desire.
7. Brush the tops with the egg yolk and sprinkle with poppy seeds.
8. Bake at 375 degrees F for about 15 minutes or until dough is golden brown.
Kerry Kitchen 
this is delicious! you made me crave for borek and lucky me I have some yufka in my freezer. I hope you don’t mind me making a little correction… Patatesli Börek is the right way of saying, patates boregi means the dough is made of potato not filled with potato… like patatesli kofte means kofte and potatoes cooked in the same dish, patates koftesi means the patties are actually made of potatoes… hope you forgive me for this short lesson on Turkish… from Joburg with love…
Lucky you! I really will have to order yufka soon. It’s funny that you should mention it, because I asked my boyfriend (an Istanbul native) whether its “patatesli börek” or “patastes böreği” and he said in this case there isn’t much of a difference. Guess I’ll have to review this with my Turkish teacher later this week. 🙂