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Kelly's Cretan Bougatsa

A cretan dessert combining three cheeses; ricotta, goat cheese; and feta with béchamel to create a sweet and savoury sensation.

Course: Dessert
Cuisine: Greek
Keyword: bougatsa, cheese, Feta cheese, greek desserts, greek sweets
Ingredients
  • 200 ml full-cream milk
  • 20 g corn flour
  • 20 g butter
  • 150 g Meredith’s Goat Cheese
  • 100 g ricotta, not too firm or too soft
  • 100 g feta
  • 8 sheets fillo pastry – to make 2 bougatsa parcels
  • 100 g butter, then clarified
Instructions
Preparing the béchamel

  1. Place the corn flour in a small bowl with about a quarter of the milk – mix well

  2. Place the remaining milk in a small pot, along with the milk-corn flour mixture and heat on medium heat, while stirring continuously – be sure to stir around the edges of the pot

  3. Continue heating and stirring until it thickens and begins to bubble

  4. Remove from the heat and add the 20g of butter – mix in well

Preparing the bougatsa filling

  1. Combine the goat’s cheese, ricotta, feta and béchamel sauce – set aside

Making the bougatsa

  1. Bake the bougatsa in an oven preheated to 180°C for 20-25 minutes, or until the bougatsa are a lovely golden-brown colour

  2. Take one fillo sheet and lay it on your work surface horizontally

  3. Baste it all over with the butter, sparingly

  4. Lay another fillo sheet on top and baste it

  5. Repeat with a third fillo sheet

  6. Take a 4th fillo sheet and baste the left half of it, before folding the right half over the left

  7. Bastet he bottom half of the folded 4th fillo sheet, before folding the bottom half over the top half

  8. Place the folded fillo sheet in the centre of the 3-stack fillo pile, in a horizontal orientation

  9. Spoon half of the cheese filling onto the folded fillo sheet and spread it evenly across the folded fillo

  10. Begin folding the 3-stack pile of fillo. Fold the left section towards the centre and baste it. Fold the right section towards the centre making sure it overlaps a little with with left section and baste it too. Fold the bottom half up and baste it. Fold the upper half down, making sure it overlaps a little with the upper section and then baste it.

  11. Using a wide/long spatula flip the bougatsa parcel onto a baking tray lined with baking paper, so the fillo seam faces downward

  12. Baste the top of the bougatsa

  13. Repeat this process with the remaining fillo and filling

Serving the bougatsa

  1. Allow the bougatsa to cool for10 minutes before sprinkling them with caster sugar and dusting them with ground cinnamon generously

  2. Cretan bougasta are traditionally cut into 8 pieces – slicing once lengthways and three times width ways

    Kali Orexi!