Greek Bougatsa Recipe (Thessaloniki's)

Hi everyone, welcome back to Dimitra's Dishes. So today I'm going to teach you how to make Bougatsa. This is not the Bougatsa that I made a little while ago on my channel, which was the Cretan style Bougatsa. This is the one that's very similar to Galaktoboureko, which is Greek custard pie, without the syrup. It's also, the custard is also a little bit creamier, if that's even possible, but it's delicious, so easy to make, and you can scale it. You can make it in a small pan like I'm making it, or in a big 9 by 13 inch pan to serve a big crowd. Now let's go over the ingredients and then we're going to get started. So we're going to need some whole milk, eggs, we're going to use one whole egg and an egg yolk, some unsalted butter, fine semolina flour, cornstarch, sugar, a little bit of salt, pure vanilla extract, some melted butter and phyllo, we're using country phyllo number 10, and then for garnish, we're going to use some powdered sugar, also known as confectioner sugar, and ground cinnamon. So I'm using a country style phyllo. It's one of my favorite types of phyllo to use. It's not as commonly found in your supermarket. You're probably going to have to look for it in a Mediterranean or Middle Eastern specialty food store or food market, but if not, I'll link down below. I'm pretty sure they might have it on Amazon. If not, I'll try to find a link that I can link below where you can get it, but if you cannot find it, go ahead and use regular thin phyllo, which is number four. You're just going to have to double the amount of layers because those phyllo pastry sheets are much thinner than these. These are thicker and hardier and they're going to be more crisp. So we're going to begin by putting the milk in our saucepan over here. So we have our milk in our saucepan over medium low heat. I'm going to put a little pinch of salt. Then we're going to add the sugar, the finely ground semolina flour, and the cornstarch. And we're just going to mix this over the medium heat until it begins to thicken. So once it begins to almost come to a boil, it's going to instantly start to thicken and you'll know it's ready when it coats the back of the spoon. Just like that. Now we're just going to remove it off the heat. Now we're just going to separate one egg. I'm going to save the white for maybe an omelet or something for tomorrow because we need one yolk and one whole egg. We're just going to beat the egg and then we're going to temper it by adding some of the hot custard to the egg. And then we're going to add it back into our custard. We're just going to whisk it until it all comes together and it's nice and smooth. To the custard we're going to add the two tablespoons of butter and some vanilla extract. And now we're just going to set it aside and put it all together. Now I'm just going to brush the bottom of my baking tray with some of this melted butter and I'm going to take one sheet at a time of the phyllo and I'm just going to layer it on the bottom very loosely. Don't make it so tight and compact. Drizzle with some more melted butter and we're going to do four layers on the bottom. And now we're going to pour all of our custard in and now we're just going to fold all of the phyllo over it, drizzling butter in between each and every layer. All the remaining butter and brush it all over the top of the phyllo. And then with a sharp knife just score it on the top into four pieces. If you wanted to do smaller servings this is going to give you four squares but you can do triangles too. So then you can have eight pieces. I just like to do it in four and then if I'm going to cut them into smaller pieces I can do it later on just so that way it's clear. And then I'm going to take all this remaining butter and brush it all over the top. Since I'm using the hearty number 10 phyllo which is the country style phyllo it was enough phyllo for me but if you wanted more layers on the top you can go ahead and put one more layer of phyllo on top and then just tuck it all in and do everything I did which is like pre-cut the slices and put the butter on top and everything. And then if you're also if you're using the number four phyllo you are going to use more layers than I did. I would say about double. You're also going to need double the amount of butter because you're going to have to drizzle in between each layer. Totally up to you. Let me know which phyllo you're using in the comment section. My oven is preheated to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. I'm going to bake it until it's nice and golden. That can take up to 35 minutes but I'll show you what it looks like as soon as it comes out. So the bugatta took 35 minutes to bake and then you want to let it sit for a little while at room temperature so it can settle and it can be easier to cut. Now I'm just going to put lots and lots of powdered sugar on top of this for some added sweetness. You can do granulated sugar if you really wanted to but I like the way the powdered sugar is nice and delicate. So I'm going to do powdered sugar and then some cinnamon. Lots and lots of cinnamon. I love cinnamon on dessert. And now we're going to cut into this. It smells incredible and you really want to hear that crispy crunchy sound. So I know I should have waited a little bit longer but kind of impatient. So you should wait at least 30 minutes before you serve this so that way the custard has a chance to set. But ain't nobody got time for that today because this just smells too good and I have to give it a little bit of a taste. The custard is so creamy. The cinnamon and the powdered sugar on top just you know gives it a nice little extra kiss of sweetness. The phyllo is super crispy especially because we use the thicker kind. Use whatever you have. The recipe for this is on the website www.sydneytransitions.com. Make yourself a big pot of coffee. Call some friends over and enjoy. Share this. Share your comments with me down in the comment section and let me know what you think. Let me know if you made it and also share pictures with me on social media. I'm on Instagram and on Facebook. Thank you guys so much for spending time with me today. I'll see you all next time. Yassas!