Sigara Boregi

Sigara Boregi – The Turks serve this delicious treat with tea as a snack.  I like to eat them for breakfast with black olives.  Here is a link to Hayriyes’s recipe for Sigara Borek (Turkish Cigars).  http://www.turkishfoodandrecipes.com/2008/12/cigarette-borek-sigara-boregi.html.  It is a lovely phyllo dough filled with feta and other ingredients, rolled like a cigar, and fried.

My variations and tips on this lovely treat follow:

1.  add a lot (1/2 cup) of chopped fresh parsley instead of dill
2. add an egg and black pepper
3. mix the feta, egg, black pepper, and parsley with a fork
4. Cut phyllo into triangles – base should be about 6-7″ and about 6-7″ long to the point.  Tip on phyllo – Phyllo comes in thicknesses indicated by number.  #4 is what we generally find in U.S. markets.  It may be easier to use #7 or 9 which are thicker, if you can find them.  If you happen to be in Philly, there is a Turkish owned corner store.  They sell thick triangle-shaped phyllo just for this purpose.
5. Place a spoonful or 2 at the straight edge.  Roll towards the point, tucking in the sides about 1/3 of the way down.
6. Cigars can be fried in deeper oil, but I prefer a thin coating in my pan.  Heat the pan on high heat.  Lower temp to med or med-high when cooking.
7. Place the cigars, point down to the pan – otherwise it will unroll.  Flip to the other side when brown.
8. Don’t walk away while cooking – they don’t take long.  You are just browning them, not baking them!
9. If you need more help, send me a message or check You Tube for step by step videos!

Afiyet olsun!