Whole-wheat Meat Pies Recipe

Ingredients:

For the dough:
1 ½ cup whole-wheat flour
1 teaspoon yeast
½ teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon corn oil
½ cup drinking yogurt (laban)
some water to soften the dough
More water for brushing
1 tablespoon black seed

For the filling:
200g ground veal, fat trimmed
1 onion, chopped
1 tomato, chopped
½ teaspoon of each (salt, black pepper)
1 tablespoon corn oil

Steps:

1) To make the dough, mix the dry ingredients then add the drinking yogurt, oil and some water. Knead the mixture until a soft dough is formed. Cover the dough for an hour and leave to rise in a warm place.

2) Meanwhile, prepare the filling by mixing the meat with onions, tomatoes, corn oil, salt and black pepper.

3) Divide the dough into small balls (the size of small lemons) then roll them into circles.

4) Add a tablespoon of the filling into the center of each circle and fold over to cover the filling; seal well and arrange in a baking tray. Brush the pies with water and sprinkle with black seeds.

5) Bake in a preheated oven 400 F (200 C) for 15 to 25 minutes or until golden brown.

Cheese fatayer puff pastry recipe

Serves 12
15 Mins

Ingredients

6 Kiri® square portions
100g mozzarella cheese
30g double cream cheese
2 tablespoons canned pesto sauce
Readymade puff pastry
6 dried tomatoes (chopped)

For the cream:

2 kiri squares
1 tablespoon double cream cheese
2 tablespoons Kiri® (jar)

Cooking Directions

1 Combine the mozzarella, the double cream, the Kiri squares and dried tomatoes using a blender.

2 Cut the pastry into 12 circles and spread a little pesto sauce on each one of them.

3 Place 1 tablespoon of stuffing over each pastry circle.

4 Seal the fatayer and bake them in a pre-heated oven for 15 minutes or until golden.

Fatayer bil-Sabanegh / Spinach Triangles Recipe

Makes 25-30

The dough for these triangles is used with a number of fillings to make both the triangles below, and the fried crescents known as sambusak in the following recipe. You can vary on the spinach filling here by using purslane (leaves only), sorrel, Swiss chard, dandelion or wild thyme. Whichever you chose, the quantities and instructions will be the same as below.

Ingredients

150g plain white flour
¼ tsp salt
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, plus extra to brush dough
200 g spinach, shredded into thin strips
1 small onion, very finely chopped
¼ tsp Adonis ground black pepper
1 tbsp Adonis sumac
1 tbsp pine nuts
Juice of ½ lemon, or to taste
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Cooking instructions

Mix the flour and salt in a mixing bowl and make a well in the centre. Add the oil to the well and, with the tip of your fingers, mix the oil with the flour until well incorporated. Gradually add 90-100 ml water (it is difficult to measure the exact amount of water as it depends on the brand of flour you are using), knead until you have rough dough.

Remove the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 3 minutes. Invert the bowl over the dough and let it rest for 15 minutes. Knead for another 3 minutes, or until the dough is smooth and elastic. Form into a ball, cover with a damp cloth and let it rest for 5 to 10 minutes.

Put the chopped spinach in a mixing bowl, sprinkle with a little salt and rub the salt in with your fingers until the spinach wilts. Squeeze the spinach dry and place in a clean bowl. Separate the leaves.

Put the chopped onion in a small bowl. Add a little salt and Adonis ground black pepper and rub the seasoning in with your fingers to soften it. Add to the spinach together with the Adonis sumac, pine nuts, lemon juice and olive oil. Mix well. Taste and adjust the seasoning if necessary. The filling should be quite strongly flavored to offset the rather bland pastry. Cover with ac clean kitchen towel and set aside.

Divide the dough into two balls. Place one on a lightly floured surface. Flatten it slightly and sprinkle with a little flour. Roll out into a large circle, about 2 mm thick, turning over the dough regularly and sprinkling with a little flour every now and then so that it does not stick. Use a 7 cm round pastry cutter (if you do not have pastry cutters, use a thin edged glass or cup) to cut the flattened pastry into as many circles as you can. Pick up the excess pastry, knead together and let it rest under the damp cloth.

Preheat the oven the oven to 230 degree.

Turn the circles over, put a teaspoon of stuffing in the middle of a circle. Lift two sides each one third of the circle, and with your thumb and index finger pinch them together half way down, making a thin raised joint. Lift the open side if the circle and pinch it equally to both loose ends to form a triangle with a thin raised inverted y in the middle-make sure you pinch the pastry tightly together so that it does not open during baking. Carefully transfer the filled triangle onto a non-stick baking sheet, or one lined with a silicone pastry mat or parchment paper, and makes the remaining triangles until you have finished both dough and filling. Brush them with a little olive oil.Bake in the preheated oven for 10-12 minutes, or until golden brown. Serve warm or at room temperature. These freeze very well, either before baking or after. All you have to do is to let them thaw and either bake them as above, or reheat in a medium oven.

Sfeeha from Baalbek Recipe

Adapted from The Arabian Cookbook

Makes 30 pies

Ingredients

Dough:
1 tablespoon active dry yeast
3 cups (710 mL) lukewarm water (125 degrees F/50 degrees C)
1 cup (225 grams) unsalted butter, softened
8 cups (1 kg) all purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt

Filling:
1 pound (450 grams) lamb meat from the ribs or ground lamb
1 pound (450 grams) tomatoes, diced
1 1/2 yellow onion, finely chopped
Salt to taste
Optional: 1/2-1 red chili and 2/5 cup (12 grams chopped flat-leaf parsley or 2 tablespoons tahini

Directions 

In a bowl, sprinkle the yeast over the water. Stir to combine, then allow to sit until frothy, 5-10 minutes.

In a large bowl, crumble the butter into the flour. Make a well in the center and add the water with the frothy yeast. Work in the flour to form a smooth dough. Cover with a damp towel and allow to rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.

To make the filling: If the lamb is not ground, finely chop. Add to a bowl and mix with the diced tomatoes and chopped onions. If desired, add chili and parsley or tahini.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Lightly grease rimmed baking sheets. Punch down the dough and roll into a thin rectangle. Use a 3 inch wide circle cutter to cut out circles of dough. Add a spoonful of filling to the center of each circle. Press each side partially over the filling to form a square with the center of the filling still showing. Pinch the edges to form four corners.

Arrange the sfeeha 1 inch apart on prepared baking sheets and bake in preheated oven until the meat is cooked through and dough is golden brown, 10-15 minutes.

Serve hot or at room temperature.