With Bread around the World -1

Bulgarian Banitsa

Today I want to share with you a simple recipe with bread from Bulgaria. Traditionally Bulgarians serve banitsa on Christmas eve or New Year. Sometimes they bake it with pieces of paper with predictions (just like in fortune cookies) wrapped in a foil. The banitsa is then cut in the way that every piece would contain a prediction. Most common fortunes are “love”, “journey”, ‘wealth”, “ marriage”, “new job”, “baby”. Just like everywhere in the world.

But originally word “banitsa” means “crumbled”. So I guess it was fun way to use crumbled or old bread. J

So to make your own banitsa you will need:

½ lb. of whole grain bread (it’s OK if it’s crumbled)

3 oz. of feta cheese (you also can use fresh goat cheese or fresh mozzarella)

2 Tbsp. of butter

2 eggs

1 cup of milk

Pinch of salt

Preheat the oven to 400.

Combine together feta cheese and 1Tbsp. of butter and crumble it. Put slices of bread on the bottom of non-sticking casserole dish or pie pan. Put the feta the top of the bread. Beat together eggs, 1 Tbsp. of butter, milk and salt. Pour it on the top of the bread and cheese. Bake at 400 for 10-12 minutes or until the egg mixture is set.

To make it more interesting you can also add spinach, parsley, dill or bell pepers.  

Enjoy with your family and friends.