Banitsa – Traditional Bulgarian Food

Banitsa (Banica or Banitza) is a traditional Bulgarian food. This dish can be eaten hot or cold, any time of the day, even for breakfast! Some people add spinach or pumpkin as well. I’ve tasted the spinach one and it was divine! However, this one will be only the plain version of Banitsa. I tasted it years back and had not eaten since… Until recently! I have come across Banitsa recipe in a food magazine and couldn’t wait to try to make it myself! So here it is! This is my second attempt, the first one was pretty good but still I felt that it needed some improvement and so I have changed the recipe and made my own version. The Feta cheese is pretty salty so don’t be tempted putting too much filling into filo pastry sheets (My first attempt was a pretty salty one – I put way too much Feta cheese in! Well, to my defence: I was hungry!). There are a few different ways how it can be done and I am sure Bulgarian women have their own way (and definitely a better way) of making this delicious dish but in general, they all are pretty simple and fast (if you are not using homemade filo sheets, that is)! In many recipes the individual filo “snakes” are placed in an ovenproof dish creating a large spiral. I rolled each filo “snake” into individual spirals and placed them in the dish. This way it was easier to serve. You simply take as many filo spirals as you like. I hope you will like it!