Ricotta and strawberry bourekas for Shavuot

Sweet Ricotta & Strawberry Bourekas. Photo: Danielle Oron

By Danielle Oron, The Nosher via JTA

I’m a cheese and dairy fanatic. So for obvious reasons my favorite holiday is Shavuot. This is when spring has sprung and my family makes a whole spread of cheese and dairy-filled foods and desserts. There is always a ton of different cheeses, spreads, breads, fluffy cheesecake, kugel, blintzes and my absolute favorite, bourekas – puff pastry or a simple butter pie dough filled with cheese and either potato, mushrooms or spinach. When you manage to get one hot out of the oven they are heavenly!

So why not have sweet bourekas on the table, too? I’ll be taking care of that this year. They’ll be filled with a sweetened ricotta cheese and macerated strawberries, since they are in season. No fresh strawberries around? Try using jam in whatever flavor you like.   

You can also make these ahead and freeze them, baking one by one for a midnight snack if you really want. The beauty of bourekas is that you can bake them even if they are frozen. I love a good make-ahead recipe when I know I’m making a slew of things during the holidays.