Bougatsa

Ingredients

Semolina custard

• 1 litremilk
• 150 gfine semolina
• 150 gsugar
• 3eggs
• 100 gbutter
• 1 tspvanilla extract
• zest of 1 lemon
• a pinch of salt

Pastry

• 400 gphyllo
• 150 gbutter, melted
• 2 tbspolive oil

To finish

• icing sugar
• ground cinnamon

Directions

1. Heat the milk with the lemon zest and salt until it is just below boiling, then take it off the heat.
2. Whisk the eggs with the sugar until pale and thick.
3. Return the milk to a low heat and rain the semolina into it in a thin stream, whisking hard the whole time. Semolina tipped in as a mass sets into lumps instantly and there is no rescuing it.
4. Cook, stirring constantly, for about 5 minutes until it thickens noticeably.
5. Take the pan off the heat, whisk a ladleful into the egg mixture to temper it, then stir the eggs back into the pan and cook over the lowest heat for 2 minutes. Do not let it boil once the eggs are in.
6. Beat in the butter and vanilla, cover the surface directly with cling film so no skin forms, and chill until completely cold. Warm custard tears phyllo the moment you try to spread it.
7. Brush a baking tray with melted butter and lay in 6 or 7 sheets of phyllo, brushing each one with butter mixed with a little olive oil and letting them hang generously over the sides.
8. Spread the cold custard evenly over the base, fold the overhanging pastry in over it, then cover with another 6 or 7 buttered sheets, tucking the edges down inside the tray.
9. Score the top layers into squares with a sharp knife before it goes into the oven. Cutting a baked bougatsa shatters the pastry and the custard runs out of every cut.
10. Bake at 180°C (355°F) for 45 minutes, until deeply golden and audibly crisp when tapped.
11. Let it settle for 20 minutes, then cut down through the scored lines and dust heavily with icing sugar and cinnamon.
12. Serve warm. In Thessaloniki it is chopped on the counter with a spatula and handed over in paper for breakfast.

Technique

• The custard must be properly cold and properly thick. Both halves of that matter, and either one will sink the whole tray.
• Butter every single sheet. Skipping sheets to save time gives you dense pastry with pale patches through it.
• Sugar and cinnamon go on at the end, never before baking, or they burn.

Substitutions

• For the cheese version, 500 g of mizithra mashed with feta and an egg, and no sugar at all.
• Filo made with olive oil throughout if you would rather not use butter.

Variations

• Bougatsa me kima, filled with spiced minced meat and eaten as a savoury pie.
• The cheese version, which is the more common one in Serres.
• Rolled into a coil rather than layered in a tray.

History

Semolina custard or cheese filo pie associated with Thessaloniki and Serres, brought by refugees from Asia Minor.

Frequently asked questions

What is Bougatsa?

Bougatsa is a breakfast from Greece: thessaloniki phyllo with custard or cheese, dusted with sugar. Semolina custard or cheese filo pie associated with Thessaloniki and Serres, brought by refugees from Asia Minor.

How long does Bougatsa take to make?

Bougatsa takes 30 min plus 2 hr chilling of preparation and 50 min of cooking. The recipe makes 1 tray, 12 pieces. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Bougatsa?

Yes, within limits. For the cheese version, 500 g of mizithra mashed with feta and an egg, and no sugar at all. Filo made with olive oil throughout if you would rather not use butter.

What is the most important thing to get right in Bougatsa?

Return the milk to a low heat and rain the semolina into it in a thin stream, whisking hard the whole time. Semolina tipped in as a mass sets into lumps instantly and there is no rescuing it.