Gibanica
Gibanica is a traditional dish made with phyllo dough and layered fillings. It can be savoury or sweet. The Sljeme version is a rich dessert, with multiple layers of fillings – apples with cinnamon, fresh cheese and ground hazelnuts cooked in caramelised milk.
Ingredients (for a 30x20 cm baking dish)
Dough:
• 500 g thin phyllo sheets (store-bought or homemade
Apple filling:
• 3 large sweet-sour apples
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 1 packet vanilla sugar
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• juice of half a lemon
Cheese filling:
• 300 g fresh cottage cheese
• 1 egg
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 1 tbsp sour cream
Hazelnut filling:
• 150 g ground hazelnuts
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 100 ml milk
• 1 tbsp butter
• pinch of salt
For topping:
• 100 ml sour cream
• 1 egg
• a little melted butter
Preparation
1. Apple filling: grate the apples and mix with lemon juice, sugar, vanilla sugar and cinnamon. Drain excess juice.
2. Cheese filling: mix cheese with sugar, egg and sour cream until smooth.
3. Hazelnut filling: gently heat milk, add sugar, butter and hazelnuts. Stir for 5 minutes until thick and fragrant. Let cool.
4. Grease the baking dish and layer phyllo sheets, adding a different filling every 2 sheets – apple, cheese, hazelnut – repeating until all is used.
5. Top with a final sheet and brush with a mix of sour cream, egg and melted butter.
6. Bake in a preheated oven at 180°C (356°F) for about 40 minutes until golden.
Serving suggestion
Let cool, dust with powdered sugar and cut into squares. Best when fully cooled and the layers have set – ideal with tea, coffee or a mountain-style tea with rum.
