Traditional Greek Recipes: Bougatsa

By Victoria Loutas

Golden crispy perfection. We’re talking about Bougatsa of course! Bougatsa is a traditional Greek breakfast pastry made with filo pastry and semolina custard filling.

Bougatsa has origins from the Byzantine period and began as a dough that was stuffed with numerous sweet and savoury fillings. Over time, the dish evolved to incorporate a thinly rolled, hand-made phyllo pastry. 

The dish can be served as a part of people’s breakfast meal, although it’s usually considered quite filling to have as an additional dessert (unless you only have a tiny piece). This is why it’s usually best served on its own for breakfast or along with a cup of Greek coffee.

Follow this simple recipe to make your own bougatsa at home; 

Ingredients;

1 litres full cream or skim milk 

1/2 cup fine semolina 

1/2 cup caster sugar 

1 tablespoon vanilla sugar 

2 eggs 

Puff pastry, cut into 6cm squared pieces

Method

1. Preheat oven to 160 degrees and place baking paper on a cooking rty 
2. Pour 950mls of milk into a saucepan to heat
3. Combine the remaining 50mls of milk with the semolina, sugar and eggs in a bowl and mix well
4. Once the milk has warmed, add the mixed ingredients to the saucepan and stir until the mixture thickens and begins to boil
5. Once the custard boils, take off of the head and let cool to room temperature
6. While the custard is cooling, cut the puff pastry into 6cm x 6cm squared pieces
7. Place a heaped tablespoon of the custard mixture into the puff pastry square, bring the four corners of the pastry toward the middle and press together to deal
8. Place the parcels on baking tray and bake in the oven at 175°for approximately 35 minutes or until golden
9. Top the bougatsas with icing sugar and cinnamon and enjoy!