Bucnica

Ingredients

Filling

• 1.2 kgpumpkin or squash, peeled and grated
• 2 teaspoonssalt, for drawing water
• 400 gfresh cow’s cheese or curd cheese
• 3eggs
• 200 mlsoured cream
• black pepper
• a handful of chopped parsley, optional

Pastry

• 500 gfilo pastry
• 150 mlsunflower oil
• 100 gmelted butter
• or homemade stretched dough

To finish

• 1egg, beaten, for brushing
• 2 tablespoonssoured cream
• a little milk

To serve

• soured cream or yoghurt
• a green salad

Directions

1. Use a dense firm winter pumpkin or squash. Those have little flavour and far too much water. Peel the pumpkin and scrape out the seeds. Grate the flesh on the coarse side of a grater. Put it in a colander over a bowl. Toss it with the salt and mix it through. Leave it to drain for at least thirty minutes. Wet filling gives a soggy pie every time.
2. Put the squeezed pumpkin in a large bowl. Crumble in the fresh cheese on top. Beat the eggs and add them to the bowl. Add the soured cream and mix everything through. Season it well with black pepper. Taste it and add salt only if it needs it.
3. Add the chopped parsley if you are using it. The filling should be thick rather than runny. Let filo come to room temperature before unrolling it. Cold filo cracks and tears as you unroll it. Keep the sheets covered with a damp cloth. Filo dries out and shatters within minutes. Lay out two sheets of filo and brush them with oil. Spoon a line of filling along one long edge.
4. Roll it up loosely into a long sausage. Do not roll it tightly or it bursts. Continue with more rolls, coiling each round the last. Fill the tray outwards into one large spiral. Brush a tray with oil and lay in a sheet of filo.
5. Brush it with oil and lay another over it. Spread half the filling over them. Add more oiled layers and the rest of the filling. Finish with four or five oiled layers on top. Score the top through the upper layers only.
6. Beat the egg with the soured cream and a little milk. Brush this mixture over the whole surface. That keeps the inside moist as it bakes. Heat the oven to 190C before assembling. Bake it for about fifty minutes. It should be deep golden and crisp on top. Cover it with foil if the top colours too early.
7. Let it stand for at least fifteen minutes. Serving it is done warm rather than hot. Cut it into generous even squares. Serve soured cream or yoghurt alongside. It keeps two days and reheats well in the oven.

Technique

• Zagorje and Slavonia are pumpkin-growing regions, and the crop yields both the flesh used here and the pumpkin seed oil the area is known for.
• Bucnica belongs to the wider family of layered filo pies eaten across the Balkans.

Substitutions

• Any dense winter squash works, and butternut is the easiest to find.
• Ricotta or a mild curd cheese stands in for Croatian fresh cheese.

Variations

• A rolled and coiled version is the older shape and is still made.
• Some households add a little sugar for a sweeter pie.
• Cheese, apple and cherry versions are made the same way.

History

A Zagorje and Slavonian harvest pie, using the autumn pumpkin crop rather than the winter squash’s seeds alone.

Frequently asked questions

What is Bucnica?

Bucnica is a bread & pastry from Croatia: filo pie of grated pumpkin and fresh cheese, cut in squares. A Zagorje and Slavonian harvest pie, using the autumn pumpkin crop rather than the winter squash’s seeds alone.

How long does Bucnica take to make?

Bucnica takes 40 minutes of preparation and 50 minutes of cooking. The recipe makes one large tray, 12 pieces. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Bucnica?

Yes, within limits. Any dense winter squash works, and butternut is the easiest to find. Ricotta or a mild curd cheese stands in for Croatian fresh cheese.

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

Add the chopped parsley if you are using it. The filling should be thick rather than runny. Let filo come to room temperature before unrolling it. Cold filo cracks and tears as you unroll it. Keep the sheets covered with a damp cloth. Filo dries out and shatters within minutes. Lay out two sheets of filo and brush them with oil. Spoon a line of filling along one long edge.