Bulgarian banitsa with cheese and Hokkaido pumpkin
Ingredients for 2 banitsi (18-20 cm in diameter):
250 g wholemeal flour
½ cup warm water
1 teaspoon vinegar
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons olive oil
½ small Hokkaido squash
100 g feta cheese
2 tablespoons Parmesan
Salt and pepper to taste
Olive oil and sunflower oil
Preparation:
Cut the squash into cubes and scatter them in a single layer in a large baking dish. Salt and pepper, drizzle with olive oil. Bake at 200°C for 25-30 minutes. When the pumpkin is soft and gently browned, remove from the oven and let cool.
Sift the flour into a bowl. Make a well in the center and add the other products of the first group. Adding more flour, make a soft dough. Let stand 20 minutes and divide into 2 equal balls with the size of a peach. Roll out each into a very thin sheet of dough (such as filo pastry). To do this, roll one end of the slightly flattened dough round the rolling-pin. Moving your hands from the middle towards the ends of the rolling-pin, rolling more dough round it, you will see the pastry gradually expand and get thinner. Repeat this several times, starting each time from different ends of the dough. To prevent sticking, sprinkle generously with flour.
Place the dough sheet on a kitchen towel. Drizzle with oil and sprinkle lengthwise with Hokkaido cubes (remove the skin, if you prefer). Then disperse over cubes of feta cheese and a tablespoon of parmesan. Using the cloth (that you raise upwards), roll the dough over the filling making a long sausage. Then wrap it round itself (like a snail) and transfer it in a baking dish lined with parchment paper.
Do the same with the other dough ball and remaining pumpkin and cheese, making a second snail-shaped banitsa.
Brush both banitsi with oil and bake at 180°C until golden, which takes about 30 minutes. Serve warm, always heated up in the oven (not microwave) so that they are crisp and tasty again.