Like Manti, Sou-Beoreg is another wonderful cold weather recipe, whose culinary cousins are found in such dishes as Italian lasagna or Greek Pastichio. Basically, Sou-Beoreg is layered concoction of cheese and a pasta dough that only tastes better as its flavors are allowed to sit a bit and really meld together. The following recipe is the traditional version – dough from scratch, and all – but substituting basic lasagna noodles or wide egg noodles for the homemade pasta dough works well.
Ingredients:
Dough
- 6 Eggs
- 1 teaspoon of Salt
- 2 Tablespoons of Olive Oil
- 4 ½ cups of flour (more or less, to make a pliable dough)
Filling
- 1 Pound of Brick Cheese (Jack or another mild, white variety), shredded
- ½ Pound of Cottage Cheese
- 2 Eggs
- ¼ Cup of finely chopped Parsley
- Salt and Pepper to taste
The above is the traditional filling. Alternative filling – also pretty traditional – is a meat filling.
For Meat
- 1 Pound of ground Lamb or Beef
- 2 medium onion, chopped very fine
- 1 Tablespoon of Chaimen
Fry the onions and meat together and either substitute for the cheese filling – or layer with it for a very hearty dish.
Method:
- Beat the eggs. Add the salt and flour and knead well.
- Divide the dough into 12 equally sized balls. Place the balls in a single layer in a pan, cover and let stand for at least 1 hour.
- Roll each ball into a square sheet, roughly 1/10 inch thick.
- In a large pot, boil about 6 quarts of water, with a bit a salt.
- Drop each sheet into the boiling water for only about 30 seconds and remove.
- Dip each sheet into ice cold water to stop the cooking, then lay each sheet out on dry towels.
- Grease a large shallow pan (about the size of the dough sheets).
- Layer 6 of the sheets in the bottom of the pan – greasing every other sheet with a bit of melted butter.
- In a bowl, mix the shredded cheese, the cottage cheese, the 2 eggs and the chopped parsley – season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Layer the cheese mixture onto the top of the 6 stacked pasta sheets.
- Layer the remaining 6 pasta sheets on top of the cheese layer to finish the pan – greasing every other sheet with a bit of melted butter, as before, ending with spreading melts butter on the top sheet.
- Bake in a hot oven (400 degrees F.) for about ½ hour – or until the cheese/eggs mixture has "set" and the top if the pan is slightly golden brown.
- Let sit for at least 10 minutes and serve in squares, like lasagna.
(Alternative/easy dough method: just use lasagna sheets – properly parboiled).
Debbie Kwiatoski - I have been a working journalist and editor for nearly thirty years, with published pieces in many local and regional magazines and ...
