Are you a fan of the Greek classic triangle pastry called ‘spanakopita’? Then you’re sure to love Turkish-style triangle pastries.  These simple pastries are a favorite with afternoon tea or as part of a ‘meze,’ or appetizer table.

The traditional way is to make them is with fresh, paper-thin ‘yufka’ sheets prepared especially for making baklava. In Turkey you can usually buy sheets of fresh ‘yufka’ in your local market or from the ‘yufka’ shop on the corner. Many home cooks roll out their own fresh ‘yufka’ using a narrow dowel. If you live outside of Turkey, the closet thing to ‘yufka’ is frozen phyllo pastry sheets.

In Turkish cuisine, the most popular filling for these crispy, salty delights is a mixture of Turkish white cheese, similar to Feta, and chopped fresh herbs like Italian parsley or dill weed. But you can also fill them with spinach, sauted onions and mushrooms or spicy Turkish sausage called ‘sucuk’ (soo-JOOK’) or Turkish pastrami called ‘pastirma’ (pah-STIR’-mah). You can get as creative as you wish with the fillings.

The key to great triangle pastries is the folding. Make sure you tuck in all the ends as you go along. That way, the filling stays inside and the outside stays crispy. Try these delicious pastries with a steaming bowl of Turkish soup for lunch, or with Turkish brewed black tea.

See Also

Homemade Turkish Pistachio Baklava

Layered Yufka & Cheese Pie

Custard-filled 'Laz' Böregi' Recipe

Ingredients

• 2 cups crumbled Turkish white cheese or Feta
• ¼ cup fresh Italian parsley, chopped
• ¼ cup fresh dill weed, chopped
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 package frozen phyllo dough sheets
• 1 cup butter, melted

• Prep Time: 30 minutes
• Cook Time: 20 minutes

• Total Time: 50 minutes
• Yield: 6 to 8 servings

Preparation

Let the phyllo defrost naturally. When the phyllo is soft, open the wrapper and unroll the sheets. To keep the phyllo from drying out and sticking as you work, cover it with a damp piece of cheesecloth. If you don’t have cheesecloth, Wet a few sheets of paper towels and wring out the excess water. As you use the phyllo, be sure to cover the rest each time to keep it fresh.

In a bowl, combine the crumbled cheese and herbs.

Add some salt and pepper to your taste and set it aside.

Remove a sheet of phyllo from under the cheesecloth. Using a pastry brush, coat the entire sheet lightly with melted butter all the way to the edges. Pull out a second sheet of phyllo an place it on top of the first. Butter the top of the second sheet as well all the way to the edges.

Using a sharp knife or kitchen scissors, cut the buttered phyllo sheets in half lengthwise, giving you two long, narrow rectangles.

Put about 2 heaping tablespoon of the cheese filling in the bottom center of the left rectangle. Gently fold one bottom corner up to meet the opposite edge. Repeat the folding upwards until you reach the top edge and tuck the remaining end inside. Repeat with rest of your phyllo and filling.

Place the folded triangles on a baking sheet lined with non-stick parchment. Bake them at 350° F/175°C until they are golden brown, about 20 minutes.