Bulemas

Bulemas or Boyus, depending on what town your grandparents came from, are spirals of stuffed dough, baked in the oven until crisp.  Spinach and cheese filling is my favorite.  Yeast dough is stretched until, it is a long rectangle, then filled, rolled into a cylinder, sealed at the ends, and coiled into a nest.  They are traditionally served as part of a Sabbath or Holiday lunch. They freeze and reheat very well.

Filling:

2 nine ounce packages of prewashed baby spinach

16 ounces of crumbled feta cheese

6 ounces of grated Kasseri cheese

1 and ½ cup of grated Parmesano Reggiano

Dough:

2 cups of warm water

1 packages of rapid rise yeast

1 teaspoon of sugar

2 teaspoons of salt

1/2 cup of olive oil

6 cups of better for bread flour

Spreading the dough  and topping the coils.

3/4 cup olive oil

1 cup of grated Parmesano Reggiano

Yield is approximately 25 bulemas

Proof the yeast in the warm water with 1 teaspoon of sugar in a medium bowl.  When the top of the yeast is foaming, add the oil to the water.  In a large food processor, add 3 cups of the flour and salt.  Pulse the flour to combine.  Add yeast and water mixture to the processor and process until smooth.  Add the rest of the flour, and process for approximately 60 seconds until a smooth ball forms and pulls away from the sides.  Remove the dough from the processor. The dough should be soft but not sticky.  Set the dough in an olive oil lined bowl in a warm place to rise until double in bulk, around 1 to 2 hours.  Cover the dough loosely with plastic wrap and set it in a draft free area while it is rising.

While waiting for the dough to rise prepare the spinach filling.  Chop the dry prewashed spinach into small pieces.  Place the spinach in a large bowl and add the crumbled feta cheese.  Toss to combine, add in the grated cheeses.  Toss all the ingredients together.  You will not need salt in the filling since the cheeses are quite sharp.

When the dough has raised enough, punch it down.  Roll the dough into a long cylinder and slice into 25 equal pieces.  Roll each piece into a ball and flatten them for easier roll out.

After greasing your hands with olive oil, place a ball of dough on an oiled stone or wood surface.  Begin to stretch with greased palms of hands or a wood rolling pin.  Roll each ball of dough into long rectangle shape, about 4 inches by 8 inches.

Spread a generous amount of the filling down the middle length wise.  Roll length wise to create a long, narrow, cylinder shape.  Pinch the ends for a tight seal and coil the cylinder into a nest.  Place coiled nests on a baking sheet.  Use a silicone baking sheet liner for easier clean up.  The coils won’t stick and the baking sheets don’t get as dirty.  Continue stretching, filling, and rolling.  Sprinkle the tops of the coils with a good amount of the grated Parmesan cheese.  Bake at 375º until golden brown and crunchy.  Remove them from the baking sheets to a cooling rack.  Cool on a cooling rack to keep the bottoms crisp.  These may be frozen and reheated.  Be sure to lay them single layer when reheating.

Tagged as: boyos, boyuz, bulema, cheese, cheese filled pastry, feta, kasseri, Sephardic, spinach