Fish Bourekas

1 Using a fork, mix the oil with the salt and water. Gradually add the flour, first stirring with the fork and then kneading with your hands, until it’s malleable. 2 You can set it aside for up to two hours, covered in plastic wrap, but do not refrigerate it. 3 To make the filling, grind or chop the cooked fish and the anchovies. 4 Heat the oil in a pan, and add the minced onion or the whole garlic clove. 5 Cook the onion until softened (or the garlic until it turns golden. If using the garlic, discard it when it’s golden). 6 Add the fish, salt, pepper, and cook for 3-4 minutes. Remove from the heat, allow to cool (never add the eggs to a hot mixture), and add the rest of the ingredients. The filling can be made up to one day in advance and refrigerated. 7 Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface. Cut into 3” rounds with a cookie cutter, or into squares with a knife. 8 Place about 1 tablespoon of filling on each square or round, fold over, and pinch the edges to seal. 9 Place on lightly oiled (or parchmentlined) baking sheets, spacing them well because they rise. 10 Brush with a mix of yolk and water, and bake until golden (approximately 30 minutes) in a pre-heated 350 F oven.

Make ahead:  Not only does phyllo pastry freeze really well, so do whole bourekas! You can make them well ahead of time and just pop them into the oven a few hours before your meal. If you need to keep them warm in your warming drawer, make sure to leave them only partially covered (if using aluminum foil, cut some holes into it) or they will turn soggy. They can be made the day before and kept well covered in the refrigerator. They can also be placed on trays, sealed in plastic and frozen (once frozen they can be transferred into Ziplocs without the trays, to save space). You can bake them without defrosting; just calculate 10 extra minutes of baking time. YUM! Serve slightly warm.