Cheese burek

Base-line a 20-cm spring form cake tin (7 cm deep), with greaseproof paper and set aside until needed.

Preheat the oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4.

Put the cottage cheese, feta, yogurt, eggs, oil, bicarbonate of soda and 1 ½ teaspoons of salt in a mixing bowl and mix well.

Make sure you have plenty of space to work on. Take one filo sheet and lay it on the work surface. Lightly brush it all over with oil. Place a second filo sheet on top. Spoon one-third of the cheese mixture on to the filo and spread it evenly across the surface, leaving the very edges clear.

Fold over each short side by 2 cm. Do the same with a long side, then carry on rolling it downwards (not too tightly) until you’ve rolled all the filo and made a tube. Gently lift up the tube and curl around the inside edge of the cake tin. The filo tears easily so try to lift it gently, but don’t worry too much if it tears a little.

Repeat this entire process with the remaining filo sheets, making 2 more tubes and fitting them end to end in the tin until you have a spiral. Brush the top with oil.

Bake in the preheated oven for 40 minutes until deep golden and risen. Don’t worry if parts of the pastry look a little burnt – this tastes great! Remove from the oven and leave to cool for a few minutes. It freezes well – defrost and warm up in the oven before serving.

From The Popina Book of Baking by Isidora Popovic, published by Ryland Peters & Small, photography by Peter Cassidy © Ryland Peters & Small