Bosnian Spinach Pita
Emina Corbo
Filling:
4 eggs
12 ounces large curd cottage cheese
¾ cup buttermilk
2 cups chopped spinach or 1 package frozen spinach thawed and well drained)
½ teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
Pastry:
3 ¼ cups sifted white flour
1 ½ cup water
olive oil
Directions:
Mix together the filling ingredients in a medium size bowl.
Mix the flour and water by hand in a second bowl, adding more flour until the dough is firm enough to roll out.
Lay a table cloth or piece of sheeting or muslin on the entire surface of your table (about 3 – 4’ across). Sprinkle flour on the cloth.
Knead the dough, for 5 to 10 minutes.
Sprinkle flour on the top of the dough. Roll with a dowel until the dough is about ¼” thick.
Place two fingers over the hole in the olive oil bottle and then sprinkle the surface of the dough with about 2 tablespoons of oil.
Let sit for 10 minutes.
Roll dough until it is very large and very thin. To help the rolling process, you can flip a corner or small curve of the rolled dough onto the rolling pin and roll it back on itself with the rolling pin in the center.
Work your hands under the dough and stretch it out until it is about 2.5’ X 3’ and very thin. If small holes develop in the dough, don’t worry.
Lay one half the spinach egg mixture in a 4” strip along one long edge of the dough.
Fold that edge over on itself and then lift the fabric and allow the dough to roll up on itself until it reaches the halfway mark.
Cut the roll away from the rest of the dough.
Twist the long roll slightly, then cut in half and form each half into a spiral, starting with a 1 ½” center.
Repeat steps 10 – 13 with the second half of the dough.
Bake on a cookie sheet in a 350˚ oven for 45 – 50 minutes or until each pita is lightly browned.
Serves 4
Emina Corbo has lived in the United States for almost ten years. She cleans for the Pelican Rapids Library, she cares for her husband and two children, and she cooks. Although Mohamed and Amina, her children, are learning to enjoy American foods, Emina and her husband Mufik prefer traditional Bosnian meals.
The end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan is a time for Emina to introduce her American friends and coworkers to Bosnian food. She spends the day preparing. When company begins to arrive, she offers soda, and cookies. The meal is served buffet style, and the table is crowded with sarma (cabbage rolls), pita (cheese or meat pies), fresh bread, lettuce and tomato salad, cupavci (chocolate coconut cake), and baklava. After everyone has eaten their fill, Emina makes sweet, strong Bosnian coffee and serves it in tiny cups.
The recipes have been in Emina’s family for a long time. “Her grandmother did it and her great grandmother did it.” Mohamed translated for his mother. Emina learned to make these foods from her mother who learned when she was a young girl, and she is teaching the recipes to her daughter, Amina, whose favorite food is the pita recipe that Emina is sharing in this cookbook.
Emina demonstrated her recipe. She talked as she kneaded the dough for pita. Her movements were quick and sure; she measured by eye, using no measuring cups or spoons. She spread a thin layer of vegetable oil on the dough and then began rolling it out with a long dowel. Soon, the dough covered her tabletop. Emina spread the filling along one edge of the dough and with a few practiced hand movements, rolled the dough into a spiral.
Emina stood back, smiling slightly as her daughter translated. “She says she is honored to be participating in this.”