Hiking

Today’s recipe is for a homemade cheese pie called “Banica”, or in some places “Gibanica”. This is very old traditional Serbian food, usually prepared for breakfast or dinner. Best is when combined with soured milk, and it is good start of a day for a hiking in the mountains, as we did in our Hiking adventure to Pilj waterfall.

Banitca (Pie)

Ingredients:

• 500 g flour type 500
• 1 tablespoon oil
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3dl lukewarm water and more flour if need

 

Filling:

• 300 g cheese
• 2 eggs
• 1 bunch mangel

 

Method:

Pour floor, salt and oil in the mixing bowl, slowly add water and knead the dough with your hands. If the dough is sticky, add a little flour, transfer the dough on the lightly floured linen tablecloth, knead it slowly and gradually add flour until the dough does not stick to your hands any more. The dough must be stretchy.

Divide dough into 3 balls, spread each a little into a circle with a rolling pin, coat with hot, but not too hot oil, cover with transparent foil and leave it for an hour. Then spread the dough. You do everything on the linen tablecloth. First spread a little with the rolling pin, and then do everything with your hands. Put hands under the dough and spread it slowly from the middle to the edges of the table. Spread it as long as you can, cut the side edges that are thicker and make a ball of this dough. You can make a small flat bread. Put some oil on the pie crusts, put the filling as you like and roll it into small strudel using the tablecloth. The roll made this way put into an oiled baking tray, cover with clean dishcloth and serve it with some of sour dairies.

The recipe is taken from a book “The tastes of Stara planina mountain”, by Dejan Zagorac