Bosnian · bread

Zeljanica (Coiled Spinach and Cheese Pita)

Name: Zeljanica (Coiled Spinach and Cheese Pita)
Prep time: 1 h 50 min
Total time: 2 h 40 min
Cuisine: Bosnian
Ingredients: bread flour — 500 g; water — 300 g; salt — 10 g; sunflower oil — 138 g; spinach — 800 g; young sir iz mijeha — 400 g; curd — 200 g; eggs — 200 g; salt — 6 g; freshly ground black pepper — 5 g; water — 100 g; unsalted butter — 60 g

Zeljanica (Coiled Spinach and Cheese Pita) reads richness 5.2, salinity 4.4 and herbaceous 1.8 on Palate's 0–10 flavor X-ray — a Bosnian bread, about 2 hr 40 min. Measured from the recipe itself: ingredients and technique.

The flavor X-ray — six axes, 0–10

Umami & Savory — 4.7 / 10
Sweet & Fruity — 1.1 / 10
Sour & Bright — 1.6 / 10
Bitter & Earthy — 1.9 / 10
Rich & Fat — 5.7 / 10
Aromatic & Spice — 2.0 / 10

The measured notes (of 18)

Richness 5.2 · Salinity 4.4 · Herbaceous 1.8 · Warm Spice 1.8 · Umami 1.8 · Bitterness 1.7 · Nutty 1.7 · Sourness 1.5 · Earthy 1.3 · Sweetness 1.1 · Funk & Ferment 1.0 · Heat 0.7

What's in it (12)

bread flour — 500 g
water — 300 g
salt — 10 g
sunflower oil — 138 g
spinach — 800 g
young sir iz mijeha — 400 g
curd — 200 g
eggs — 200 g
salt — 6 g
freshly ground black pepper — 5 g
water — 100 g
unsalted butter — 60 g

Time & effort: about 2 hr 40 min (1 hr 50 min active) · effort: involved

Nutrition (per 100 g, engine-estimated): 92.1 kcal, 4.8 g protein, 3.3 g fat, 14.9 g carbs

Dietary: Vegetarian · Contains dairy · Contains egg — engine-derived; double-check anything allergy-critical.

How it's cooked (10 steps)

Make the dough as for any pita: mix the flour, warm water and 10 g salt and knead 10 minutes until smooth and slack, then divide into four, roll each ball in some of the oil and rest them covered 40 minutes.
Toss the shredded greens with the 6 g of salt and leave them 20 minutes, then squeeze them out hard in your fists, a handful at a time. The greens go in raw. Cooking them first, which is the usual mistake, floods the pastry.
Crumble in the white cheese and the fresh curd, add the eggs and the black pepper, and mix. Sir iz mijeha is Bosnian cheese matured in a sheepskin, sharp and salty; feta will stand in but is saltier, so hold back the added salt if you use it.
Stretch each dough ball on a floured cloth until the sheet is nearly transparent, about 15 minutes for the first one.
Smear with oil, lay a line of filling along the near edge and use the cloth to roll it into a long rope.
Oil a 30 cm round pan and coil the ropes from the centre outward, each turn touching the last.
Bake at 220C for 40 minutes, until the coils are deep brown and crisp at the edges.
Splash the sparkling water over the hot pita and brush with the melted butter.
Cover with a cloth for 10 minutes so the crust relaxes, then cut in wedges. In Sarajevo this is zeljanica and it is never called burek, because burek here means meat and nothing else. Cheese alone would be sirnica, potato would be krompiruša, and all of them together are pita.
Substitutions: young chard can stand in for the spinach; another firm salty white cheese can stand in for the young sir iz mijeha.

Dishes with a similar flavor shape

Little Fish Of The Garden (Peixinhos Da Horta) - Portuguese — Portuguese
Loaded Baked Potato Bar with Broccoli and Cheddar — American
Focaccia Genovese — Italian
Muhlama (Kuymak, Cornmeal and Melting Cheese) — Turkish
Homemade Tagliatelle With Summer Sauce Recipe — Italian

Keep reading: what richness, salinity, herbaceous mean in the flavor lexicon · the world's cuisines, by flavor.

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Every number above is Palate's engine-measured estimate, computed from this recipe's ingredients and techniques — not human-tasted ratings or reviews.