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Nicole Seals, chef and proprietor of Due Venti in Clawson along with her husband David, says Banitsa is a “long-loved traditional food from the Bulgarian side of the family.” Her great-great grandparents settled in Detroit in the ’20s and had a restaurant on Russell Street. They made filo dough on a dining room table (shown�� at right). “This recipe is near and dear to all of us. I assume that my great-great grandmother adapted it to what was available in the U.S. for a reasonable price. Traditionally, it calls for feta cheese,” Nicole says. Today, family members take turns making Banitsa.�� “If we are lucky, there’s enough for everyone to take home for breakfast.”

Banitsa (Serves 6-8)

Ingredients
24 ounces of cottage cheese (preferably, it should be partially drained)
3 eggs
Pinch of salt
1 package filo dough
2 sticks unsalted butter

Directions
Mix together cottage cheese, eggs, and salt and set aside. Melt butter. Lay out one sheet of filo and brush on butter with a pastry brush. Be sure to keep remaining filo sheets covered with a moist towel as to not dry out while working with consecutive sheets. Layer three sheets of filo with butter in between, then add about 1/4 cup of filling mixture. Spread filling lengthwise along the edge of the filo layer closest to you, but leave about 3 inches from edge. Spread filling up about 4 inches high, and across length of dough, but leave 1 inch on the outer edges for folding. Fold the outer edges in to seal the filling in, then fold bottom 3 inches over the filling and keep rolling until you have sealed completely. Place on a greased sheet pan, then repeat with remaining ingredients. You will get at least 6-8 long pastries. (3 sheets of filo per pastry). Leave 1/2 inch between each row for expansion during baking. (You will have two cookie sheets filled with Banitsa.) Do a final brush of butter on the tops before baking. Bake at 350 degrees for about an hour, or until golden brown on bottoms.