Bourekas Filled with Cheese and Roasted Eggplant

👨‍🍳 Method

For the Wrapping Dough

1. 1
   Mix the flour and salt in a bowl.

   Bowl
2. 2
   Add the cold margarine in cubes and rub it in with your fingertips, until coarse crumbs form.

   💡The butter must stay cold: butter that melts in your hands gives a hard dough instead of a crumbly one. Work quickly, and if the dough warms up, put it back in the fridge.
3. 3
   Add the yogurt, vinegar and oil and quickly bring together with your hands, without kneading, just until the dough comes together.

   💡Knead as little as possible: long kneading develops gluten, and the dough comes out tough and shrinks in the oven.
4. 4
   Wrap in plastic wrap and chill at least 30 minutes.

   ⚙ Wrapping and Chilling the DoughPlastic wrapRefrigerator

   💡Chilling firms the butter and relaxes the gluten: the dough rolls out easily, doesn't stick to the counter and doesn't shrink in the oven.

For the Pastry Filling

1. 5
   Char the eggplants whole directly over the gas flame, turning, until the skin is black and blistered on all sides and the flesh is completely soft (eggplants: 20–30 minutes, about 10 minutes per side).

   Stove

   💡Charring directly over the flame gives the vegetables their smoky flavor; in the oven they soften, but the flavor is milder.
2. 6
   Transfer to a bowl, cover tightly and leave 10–15 minutes.

   Bowl

   💡The steam in the covered container separates the skin from the flesh, so it comes off easily. Don't rinse under water: the smoky flavor washes away with it.
3. 7
   Peel off the charred skin and drain off the liquid (leave the eggplant in a colander 15–30 minutes).

   Colander

   💡Drain the roasted eggplant 15–30 minutes: its bitter juices dilute the salad.
4. 8
   Chop the eggplant flesh with a knife.

   KnifeCutting board

   💡Chop with a knife, not a blender: that way fibers and chunks remain, and the texture doesn't turn to mush.
5. 9
   Set the chopped eggplant in a colander for half an hour to drain the liquid.

   Colander

   💡A wet filling soaks the dough from the inside and the pastries burst open. Drain the eggplant thoroughly before adding the cheese.
6. 10
   In a bowl, mix the eggplant with the cheese and egg and season with salt and black pepper.

   Bowl

To assemble

1. 11
   Roll out the dough thin, to 2–3 mm, and cut into into rounds of about 10 cm.

   ⚙ Rolling Out DoughRolling pinKnife

   💡Roll from the center outward and give the dough a quarter turn between rolls: this keeps it even in thickness and stops it sticking to the counter. If it springs back, cover for 10–15 minutes and try again.
2. 12
   Place a spoonful of cooled filling in the center of each piece, fold into crescents and seal the edges well with a fork.

   💡Seal well and press with a fork all along the edges, and don't overfill: a pastry that opens in the oven loses its filling, and in the fryer it fills with oil.
3. 13
   Arrange on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, brush with beaten egg yolk.

   Baking panParchment paper

   💡Brush with an egg beaten with a teaspoon of water: the glaze turns shiny and golden.
4. 14
   Bake in an oven preheated to 180°C (355°F) 20–25 minutes, until the pastries are puffed and golden underneath too.

   ⚙ BakingOvenBaking pan

   💡Check by the cue (until…), not just the clock: every oven bakes a little differently.