Bougatsa from Chania
User Reviews
5
Bougatsa from Chania
Description
This recipe starts with combining mizithra cheese and optional staka, a cultured butter product, then mixes a butter-flour roux with milk to create a creamy sauce. This sauce is combined with the cheese mixture to form a smooth, thick filling. The phyllo dough is cut and shaped carefully into a square envelope, surrounding the cheese mixture, then layered between stacks of buttered phyllo sheets. The high oven temperature crisps the outer layers to a flaky gold crust while keeping the filling soft and creamy inside.
Bougatsa is traditionally served dusted with white sugar, providing a sweet contrast to the tangy, creamy cheese filling. It is a common breakfast or dessert pastry in Crete and other parts of Greece where fresh mizithra cheese is used for its soft, mildly sour characteristics.
If you don’t have fresh sour mizithra, a combination of ricotta and goat cheese approximates its tanginess. Leftover filling can be refrigerated and later used for making smaller bougatsa triangles using leftover phyllo sheets, brushed with butter before folding. This adds versatility and minimizes waste.
Ingredients
For the filling
- 2 cups mizithra cheese 500 grams, soft, sour
- ⅙ staka optional.
- 4 tablespoons all-purpose flour plus more in case it is needed.
- 4 tablespoons butter
- ½ cup milk plus more in case it is needed, whole
Phyllo
- 17 oz phyllo dough One 450 grams packet, sheets
- 4 tablespoons butter melted. Plus more in case it is needed.
For serving
- white sugar
Instructions
- In a large bowl, combine the mizithra, and staka. Stir well until well combined.
- Heat the oven to 390° F / 200° C.
- Brush a baking sheet with butter and set aside.
Make a roux
- In a small saucepan, melt the butter in medium heat, after butter has melted whisk in the flour continuously until it is well combined with the butter, one minute. Next, add the milk and keep stirring continuously to create a velvet semi-thick sauce, 2-3 minutes.Mix the roux with the cheese and staka until the mixture is creamy and well combined.
Assemble the bougatsa
- Cut the right side of your phyllo sheets to create a perfect square shape. Save the leftover phyllo pieces for later use.Take one sheet and brush with butter. Lift one of the corners towards the center. Repeat with the rest of the corners and create a square envelope. Set aside.
- Brush 5 phyllo sheets with butter and stack them together. Right in the middle place the square phyllo envelope. The corners of the envelope should align centered with the sides of the sheets.
- Place the cheese mix on top of the envelope. if you have leftover mixture save it in a container and refrigerate. Fold the sheets by picking them up from the corners over the mixture and fold like an envelope. Flip the envelope upside down.
- Brush 6 phyllo sheets with butter and stack them together. Right in the middle place the square phyllo envelope with the mixture. The corners of the envelope should align centered with the sides of the brushed phyllo sheets. Please refer to the photos in the post for the position.Fold the sheets again by picking them up from the corners over the square and fold like an envelope.
- Flip envelope, place on the buttered baking sheet and bake for 30 minutes.
- Remove bougatsa from oven and place on a serving plate. Cut in small rectangular pieces, sprinkle sugar all over and serve immediately.
Notes
- Use fresh sour mizithra cheese for an authentic flavor; if unavailable, mix ricotta and goat cheese as an alternative.
- Refrigerate leftover cheese filling to make smaller bougatsa triangles with extra phyllo sheets later.
- Butter phyllo sheets thoroughly before folding to ensure crispness and prevent drying out.
- Serve bougatsa dusted with powdered sugar for a traditional finish.
Nutrition Information
Show DetailsNutrition Facts
Serving: 4Serving
Amount Per Serving
Calories 606 kcal
% Daily Value*
| Calories | 606kcal | 30% |
| Carbohydrates | 72g | 24% |
| Protein | 16g | 32% |
| Fat | 28g | 43% |
| Saturated Fat | 15g | 75% |
| Polyunsaturated Fat | 2g | 12% |
| Monounsaturated Fat | 9g | 45% |
| Trans Fat | 0.5g | 25% |
| Cholesterol | 67mg | 22% |
| Sodium | 1111mg | 46% |
| Potassium | 170mg | 4% |
| Fiber | 2g | 8% |
| Sugar | 2g | 4% |
| Vitamin A | 558IU | 11% |
| Calcium | 240mg | 24% |
| Iron | 4mg | 22% |
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.
User Reviews
Overall Rating
5
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