Mini Cheese Boureg

Boureg is puff pastry that has been filled with middle eastern cheeses and baked in the oven. There are so many ways of making boureg, from the type of dough used and how it's shaped, to the mixture of cheeses you decide to put inside. This version of boureg is perfect for entertaining because it's quick and easy. Whenever my family has guests over, my grandmother and mom always make these bite sized bundles of yumminess! No Armenian party is complete without Boureg! Stay tuned for my favorite version of boureg which we will be making in the upcoming weeks - Sou Boureg!

Ingredients:

Recipe makes 40 bouregs

Most of these ingredients can be found at your local middle eastern market

• 1 Pack of puff pastry dough squares (if you can't find the squares then just purchase the sheets)
• 1 Pack of feta cheese (preferred French feta)
• 1 Pack of Ackawi Cheese 
• Italian Parsley
• Red Pepper Powder (Armenian: Garmeer Beuber)
• 1 Egg 

Thaw the Puff Pastry:

• Before preparing the cheese mixture, remove your pastry dough from the packaging and place each square on your work surface to thaw

Prepare the Cheese Mixture:

• Shred 3 cups of the Ackawi cheese and add it to a mixing bowl
• Crumble 3/4 of a cup of feta and add it to the mixing bowl
• Fine Chop about 1 tablespoon of Italian parsley and add it to the mixing bowl
• Add 1/2 teaspoon of red pepper powder to the mixing bowl 
• Mix all of the ingredients together in the bowl 

Prepare the Puff Pastry:

• After the puff pastry has thawed, cut each square into 4 pieces to create 2.5X2.5 inch squares. If you purchased puff pastry sheets then go ahead and cut as needed to achieve 2.5X2.5 inch squares

Assemble the Boureg:

• Take one of your squares and add the cheese mixture to the center
• Take all 4 corners of the square and squeeze them together at the top. Then again take each of the 4 corners and bring them to the middle and press them down. Make sure you squeeze the dough well or else the cheese will explode during cooking. Continue to do this for all your squares. See video below on how to assemble: 

Bake the Boureg:

• Add non-stick spray to a baking sheet and assemble the bouregs. The bouregs will puff up so make sure to space them out
• Crack an egg in a bowl and whisk with a fork. Brush the egg mixture on each boureg
• Cook them in a 350 degree oven in the middle rack until they have puffed up and are golden brown. Enjoy!
• (Tip: you can make the bouregs ahead of time and put them in your freezer. To avoid them sticking to one another, put the entire pan in the freezer and once each boureg has froze you can transfer them to a zip lock bag)