Celebrate Purim with Bourekas Bursting with Beets & Feta
Photo: Liz Rueven

Celebrate Purim with Bourekas Bursting with Beets & Feta

Purim, the Jewish holiday told in the Scroll of Esther (Megillat Esther) is a triumphant story about our clever queen, whose hidden identity as a Jewess, is central to WHY we eat pastries and pastas filled with intriguing surprises as part of our celebration.

While hamantaschen, triangular cookies filled with jams, cheese or even meats, may be the most well known Purim treat, other stuffed foods including kreplach(dumplings), tortellini and bourekas, are favored by Italian and Sephardic communities and throughout Israel.

Purim bourekas beet and feta Kosher Like Me
Photo: Liz Rueven

Bourekas, with their many layers of puff pastry and enclosed filling, are the perfect goody if you’re looking for something symbolic and vegetarian at the center of your celebratory meal.

I turned to my brilliantly creative friend, Chef Danielle Rehfeld Colen*, for her  ideas on what she would “hide” in puff pastry.

Purim Bourekas Beet and feta Kosher Like Me
Photo: Liz Rueven

These bourekas freeze extremely well so you may want to assemble them through the egg wash step, and freeze in advance of Purim on February 25, 2021.

Fair warning: I ate four of these while standing by my counter after taking some photos. Calories don’t count on holidays, right?

beet and feta Purim Bourekas Kosher Like Me
Photo: Liz Rueven

*Danielle Rehfeld Colen is a chef and food writer. She is deeply interested in exploring authentic regional recipes and storytelling about the people, families and cultures these recipes come from. You may find these recipes and her own on her site The Inherited Plate. Follow her @daniellerehfeldcolen and @theinheritedplate on facebook and instagram.

For more on baking hamantaschen, head over to my HOLIDAYS tab, click Purim, and see what I’ve written throughout the years.

Purim Bourekas Beet and feta Kosher Like Me
Photo: Liz Rueven

For three classic cookbooks that include both basic and creative versions of hamantaschen, I suggest Modern Jewish Baker by Shannon Sarna, Sweet Noshings: New Twists on Traditional Jewish Desserts by Amy Kritzer, and Paula Shoyer’s The Holiday Kosher Baker.

 

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2 Comments

    • Thanks, Melissa. I love hamantaschen as much as all of us but couldn’t resist this savory twist on the theme of hidden identity. Queen Esther is my hero and my Hebrew namesake!

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