Klin
Родопски клин·(ro-DOP-ski klin)
Bapche's Breakfasts & Popara Mornings
Standard banitsa is the undisputed queen of the Bulgarian table, but deep in the rugged, isolated terrain of the Rhodope Mountains, you find her rustic, heavy-hitting cousin. This is Klin. It’s a dense, comforting slab of starchy rice and sharp sheep's milk feta squeezed between two thick pastry crusts. The true grandmother’s secret—the thing that separates an authentic homeland taste from diaspora imitations—is that you never put this in an oven. You fry it directly in a heavy skillet over the stovetop, slowly coaxing out a deeply nutty, golden crunch with a generous amount of butter. It is an unpretentious, magnificent use of leftover white rice, meant to be eaten hot off the cast iron or pulled cold from the fridge the next morning alongside a glass of sharp, salty ayran.
Before you start
Plan ahead for the rice.
This recipe is the ultimate destiny for leftover white rice from the night before. Using day-old, chilled rice turns a time-consuming process into a simple weeknight assembly.
Ingredients
- cooked medium-grain white rice1 1/2 cup
- sheep's milk feta8 oz
- eggs4 large
- unsalted butter2 tbsp
- country-style phyllo dough sheets2 large
- unsalted butter4 tbsp
- neutral oil1 tbsp
Method
- 01
Mix the filling.
In a large bowl, combine the thoroughly cooled cooked rice, crumbled feta, beaten eggs, and two tablespoons of melted butter into a cohesive, thick slurry.
- 02
Prepare the skillet.
Place a heavy ten or twelve-inch skillet over medium-low heat, melting two tablespoons of butter with the neutral oil to prevent burning, then remove from the heat.
- 03
Build the base.
Drape one large sheet of the thick country-style phyllo across the skillet so it covers the bottom with the excess hanging over the edges.
- 04
Add the filling and seal.
Pour the rice and cheese mixture into the pan, spreading it to an even thickness. Lay the second sheet of phyllo directly on top and fold the overhanging bottom edges inward to seal the pie completely.
- 05
Fry the bottom crust.
Return the skillet to medium-low heat and cook for ten to twelve minutes. Rotate the pan a quarter-turn every few minutes to ensure the heat distributes evenly and creates a perfect golden crust without burning.
- 06
Execute the flip.
When the bottom is deeply browned and crispy, place a large flat lid or cutting board over the skillet. Confidently invert the pan to drop the pie onto the lid, then drop the remaining two tablespoons of butter into the empty hot pan.
- 07
Finish the second side.
Once the butter is foaming, carefully slide the pie off the lid back into the skillet, raw side down. Cook for another ten minutes until the crust shatters to the touch and the interior is firmly set.
Notes
Rice temperature matters.
Never mix warm rice into the raw eggs and cheese, or you will end up with prematurely scrambled eggs instead of a cohesive pie filling.
Phyllo alternatives.
If you can only find standard, paper-thin phyllo dough, use a stack of three to four sheets for the bottom and another stack for the top, brushing lightly with melted butter between each layer to mimic the thicker country-style dough.