Gibanica Recipe
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Ingredients: |
Ingredients: 6 eggs, yolks & whites separated
1 pkg. (2 lbs.) cottage cheese, large curd
2 pkgs. (8 ozs. each) cream cheese, softened
1 c. feta cheese, crumbled
1 box phyllo dough (let it come to room temperature before opening, and some say keep covered with a kitchen towel so it doesn't dry out and crack, but I say just work fast & you'll be ok, this is a forgiving recipe)
1/2 c. melted butter
clear Pyrex or a cake pan (2 in. deep; if round, 14 in. diameter; if rectangular, 13 x 9 in.)
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Directions: |
Directions:Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
1) Beat egg whites until foamy.
2) In a separate bowl, combine cheeses (break up the cream cheese, mixing well with a fork). Then fold in egg whites with a spatula.
3) Layer the pan with phyllo dough, up the sides (ok to go over the edge).
4) Drizzle some melted butter on that bottom layer, then double it with another layer of phyllo dough to make a strong bottom crust (butter holds layers together).
5) Use spatula to "drip"/sprinkle cheese filling over the bottom crust, but not a solid/complete layer - this "drip" process is repeated a lot, and it's very relaxed and not precise. Just try to get filling evenly spread throughout the whole pan.
6) Loosely bunch up the next 3-4 sheets of phyllo dough and place on the first layer of "dripped"/sprinkled filling. Then drip some more! (about 1/2 - 2/3 c. of filling each time)
7) Repeat the layer of bunched up phyllo, and then drip some more! (Keep going until you're out of filling or phyllo, saving 2 sheets of phyllo to make a top crust at the end.)
8) Once you're out of cheese filling and you have 2 sheets of phyllo dough for top crust, fold any bottom crust hanging over the pan edge onto the top so it connects with the last layer of filling & gets "wet".
9) Carefully lay out 1 layer of phyllo on top, tucking edges down sides of pan, and then sprinkle with melted butter. Repeat (doubling it for top layer to be stronger), and then spread the rest of the melted butter all over the top so it's all "wet".
10) Poke carefully with a fork in various places, then put it in to bake for at least 30 minutes (closer to an hour) or until golden brown on top. It will puff up in the oven! When it's golden and beautiful and your kitchen smells amazing, take it out and let it cool before cutting into squares or pie wedges.
Enjoy! Serve warm, or heat it up a bit in the microwave (10-15 seconds) or on a dry frying pan (no oil/butter needed, just ... just as it is, or with a spoonful of ajvar! |
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Number Of
Servings: |
Number Of
Servings:10-15 (depends how many pieces you eat!) |
Preparation
Time: |
Preparation
Time:15-20 minutes |
Personal
Notes: |
Personal
Notes: This is a combination of my mom's process, the recipe in the Circle of Serbian Sisters (KSS from Milwaukee, WI - 1973) cookbook, and Chef Baba's video (https://youtu.be/ACwfvaV5WFQ). My mom's gibanica comes from the master's version, her mom and my baba Zlata Tomasevic... born and raised in Zlatibor, Yugoslavia. She made the best gibanica in the world and taught me to love her favorite piece: "korner" (roll your /r/s when you say that, to sound like Zlata). The KSS cookbook was a gift from my mom's best friend after I got married - so I was equipped to expand my husband's cheesy bread repertoire beyond just pandebono (which is also yummy, but different and muy colombiano). The video is one in a series made by this guy who loves his mom and her cooking so much that he chronicled it for all to see, and it seems (though I'm not sure) that he's a midwesterner (just by the way he talks and how he behaves), so it reminds me of summers with Zlata in Milwaukee eating her AMAZING gibanica. It's hilarious to see these Chef Baba videos - they come with a good dose of the mom telling her son what to do in Serbian on the side ("Ne diraj to, Damire!"), and they're loving and natural, no pretense for the camera - the way all good cooking and families should be! It all ties together somehow, and I find it all to be thoroughly enjoyable, and hope you will, too. Izvolite i prijatno svima!
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