A cheese pie in its serving dish with one square out of it

Balkan gibanica

Name: Balkan gibanica
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 50 min
Total time: 1 h 10 min
Yield: 8
Ingredients: 3 eggs lightly beaten; 200ml whole milk; 200-225ml sparkling water plus extra as needed; ½ tsp baking powder; 300-400g cow’s or sheep’s milk white cheese (or feta) crumbled; 50-60ml sunflower oil; 500g filo pastry sheets (14-16 sheets); 1 tbsp sesame seeds or nigella seeds (optional)

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Serves 8

Easy

Prep: 20 mins

Cook: 50 mins

plus standing and cooling

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Gibanica is a cheese and egg filo rag pie that features regularly on a Balkan table for breakfast, brunch, lunch or dinner

Vegetarian

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Try our Balkan gibanica, then try spaghetti with ajvar, mozzarella and smashed olives, classic moussaka, or Macedonian pilinja pecheni (braised quail).

Words and recipes extracted from Irina Janakievska's book The Balkan Kitchen (£27, Quadrille). Photography: Liz Seabrook. Recipes are sent by the publisher and not retested by us.

Gibanica is sometimes called sirnica (because it contains cheese) and is also known as banica in Bulgaria, guzvara in Serbia and Croatia, and patsavroupita in Greece. Its composition varies – in Serbia, for example, it is often made with kajmak (clotted cream) and makes for a deliciously indulgent treat. This is my mother’s recipe and it is a very forgiving one, even if you have less than ideal dry filo sheets. Feel free to play around with the amount or type of cheese but steer clear of melty cheese. For a savoury treat, serve the gibanica with cured or smoked meats, cheeses, vegetable preserves and fresh salad. For a sweet treat, sprinkle with a little cinnamon and sugar or drizzle over a little honey.

Balkan gibanica recipe

Ingredients

Nutrition

3 eggs

lightly beaten
200ml whole milk
200-225ml sparkling water

plus extra as needed
½ tsp baking powder
300-400g cow’s or sheep’s milk white cheese (or feta)

crumbled
50-60ml sunflower oil
500g filo pastry sheets (14-16 sheets)
1 tbsp sesame seeds or nigella seeds (optional)

Nutrition: per serving

kcal405
fat20.9g
saturates8.9g
carbs37g
sugars3.3g
fibre2.1g
protein16.2g
salt2g

Method

step 1

Put the eggs, milk, 200ml of the sparkling water and the baking powder in a large bowl, and whisk to combine. Add the cheese and 1 tsp of the oil, and mix well.
step 2

With a pastry brush, brush a 32cm x 24cm baking dish with a little of the oil. Line it with a filo sheet, scrunching it a little and ensuring it reaches up the sides of the dish. Brush with oil and repeat with two more filo sheets. Then, take a filo sheet and, with your hands, scrunch it into the cheese mixture, scoop it out and put it loosely in the baking dish, making sure to take some crumbled cheese with you as you lift it out. Repeat, distributing the scrunched-up filo sheets and cheese mixture evenly in the tin, until you have used up nearly all the mixture (especially any crumbled cheese) and all but three of the filo sheets. Fold over the filo sheets from the sides of your baking dish and put a filo sheet (again, slightly scrunched) over the top. Brush oil over it and then pour over any remaining egg and cheese mixture. Put another filo sheet on top and brush with a little of the oil, then repeat with the final filo sheet. Brush any remaining oil over the top.
step 3

Using a serrated knife, cut through the filo sheets carefully to make 8-12 slices, taking care not to press down or pull the filo sheets as you cut. Drizzle the rest of the sparkling water along the cut lines. Give the tin a gentle shake to distribute the liquid – it should be quite wet and you should just about see liquid around the corners and up to the top layer of filo but the gibanica should not be submerged. If it looks too dry, drizzle a little more sparkling water into each corner and give the gibanica another gentle shake.
step 4

Allow to stand and absorb some of the liquid for 15-30 mins while you heat the oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Sprinkle the sesame or nigella seeds over the top (if using), then bake for 40-50 mins until golden brown, puffy and the middle is set. Allow the gibanica to cool for 30 mins before slicing it along the pre-cut lines to serve.

More ways with filo pastry.

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