Peinirli (Πεινιρλι) (pronounced Peeneerlee) – A Greek bread “boat” filled with melted cheese and butter.
When in Greece this is another great Greek food that you should try. It can be found in many restaurants.
The Greeks who lived by the Black Sea emigrated to Greece about 100 years ago and brought this dish with them. The name derives from the Turkish word peynirli which means “with cheese”.
You will find many recipes for this online but basically the dough is similar to pizza dough. Some add egg to the dough. Refrigerated Pillsbury Pizza dough works out good for this recipe.
The filing traditionally was Kaseri cheese topped with butter but contemporary variations include most anything you can imagine. Tomatoes, Feta, olives, bacon, ham, ground beef, and egg are among the popular fillings.
If you can’t find Kaseri most any cheese that melts easily will do, like provolone or cheddar.
INGREDIENTS:
For The Dough
- 1 envelope active dry yeast
- 1 1/4 cups warm water
- 4-5 cups bread flour
- salt
- cornmeal (for the pan)
For The Filling
- Fresh butter (to taste)
- 1/2 Lb. Grated Kaseri Cheese
Optional Ingredients
- Slices of Ham
- Slices of Bacon
- Sliced tomato
- onion
- Seasoned cooked Ground Beef (hamburger)
- Egg
DIRECTIONS:
Dissolve the yeast in lukewarm water. Mix in another bowl the flour with the sugar the salt and the oil. Create a hole in the middle of the bowl and pour the water. Work the mixture with your hands until you create a non sticky elastic dough. Add more flour if needed. Cover the bowl with the dough with a towel and let the dough rest in warm environment for an hour. It should double its size.
When the dough is ready separate it in 6 even pieces and use a rolling pin to spread the dough. Roll each ball out flat and give them an oval shape.
Spread the grated cheese lengthwise in the centre of each one. You can sprinkle a few leaves of oregano on top if you wish.Place a dot of butter on top.
Looking at the dough with the oval-shape horizontal in front of you, take the top left and bottom right corners and fold them in a little bit toward the centre. Then take the top right and bottom left corners and do the same. Pinch the two ends of the oval together so that you get the boat-like shape.
Dust a pan with cornmeal, place the boats in the pan and bake in preheated oven 400ºF (200 C) for 15 – 25 minutes.
Remove and serve hot.
For optional toppings:
Ham or bacon, put the slice of ham at the bottom, the cheese on top of it and the slice of ham or bacon on top of that.
Put tomato slices on top.
For ground beef, spread some on the bottom then top with the cheese.
For egg, break an egg carefully into the center or the cheese.