Poğaça - Joan’s (Cheese Pastries)

Making sure butter is soft, place in mixing bowl with the olive oil, yoghurt, egg yolks and salt. Add flour a little at a time and mix in. When not so sticky, use your hands and bring dough to a nice soft, smooth consistency. Just like your ear lobe!

Alternatively, make dough in a Food Processor:

Place the softened butter in the bowl and whizz for a few seconds. Add the olive oil, yoghurt, egg yolks, salt and a third of the flour in that order - whizz until just mixed. Add the remainder of the flour and mix until the dough begins to leave the side of the bowl. Turn out into a large bowl and knead until smooth. Add a little more flour, if necessary.

Break off into small balls (size of a small egg for larger pastries, size of a walnut, in its shell, for smaller ones). Roll each into a ball between your hands and place on a floured surface. Then either flatten down each piece with ball of your hand or take a rolling pin and gently open into a circle, this just needs a little press down in each direction. Make as thin or as thick as you prefer.

Place filling in centre and fold into a semi-circle, moisten (you can use milk for this) and seal the edges well with your fingers. Brush with egg wash. Sprinkle with sesame seeds or poppy seeds.

Place on a greased baking sheet and bake at 180°C for approx.10-15 minutes.

Fillings:

Feta cheese, grated cheddar, chopped parsley, seasoning, egg white to bind.

(For 30: approx. 150 gr. (5 oz.) feta, 100 gr. (3½ oz.) cheddar).

As above, but with 3-cheeses: Feta, grated cheddar, crumbled cheshire.

Feta cheese, chopped parsley, seasoning, egg white to bind.

Feta cheese, chopped dill, seasoning, egg white to bind.

Cooked spinach and onions, feta cheese, seasoning, pinch of grated nutmeg.

Walnuts, just chopped.

Cooked minced beef, onions, seasoning and chopped parsley.

These are best eaten fresh on the day they are baked, or heated up.

They freeze well. Heat up in a hot oven before serving.