Sfiha

Yesterday morning before going to the grocery store, we had a pretty standard conversation around here…

“Do you want to pick out a new recipe to try tonight before we go to the store?”

“Duh.”

Selim was perusing one of our favorite books, The World’s Best Street Food, from Lonely Planet. Our friend Kayla gave it to us for Christmas one year. The recipe for sfiha, which are Lebanese meat pies, caught Selim’s eye. From an eyeball at the pictures and the recipe, sfiha reminded him of one of his Turkish favorites, lahmacun. So, we decided to try it tonight.

This recipe does include several ingredients you might not have on hand, but nothing you wouldn’t be able to use again. We had to get a few things. We couldn’t find pomegranate molasses though. This is commonly used in many dishes in countries that were once part of the Ottoman Empire… think Turkish or Lebanese food. Well we couldn’t find pomegranate molasses at the store OR any fresh pomegranates to make our own. So below, you’ll see a non-traditional improvisation. Instead of pomegranate, we used some of our fresh cherries and made a little syrup out of them by squeezing the juice out and reducing it with a touch of balsamic and lemon juice. [Most of the time Whole Foods, international grocery stores, and Middle Eastern markets will have this ingredient, we were just feeling lazy today and didn’t put in that much effort.]

Conclusion? These are delicious! The filling is so flavorful. The more you think about it, the more flavors you notice. Meat! Spices! Mint! Pine nuts! So many tastes!! Ours came out a little greasy. I think the butter in the recipe is completely unnecessary and would definitely leave it out next time. Didn’t ruin the deliciousness though!

Sfiha

Adapted from Lonely Planet’s The World’s Best Street Food

Ingredients:

Dough

1 cup warm milk
1 tsp active yeast
2 1/2 cups AP flour
1 tbsp olive oil
1 1/2 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt

Filling

1/3 cup pine nuts
1lb ground lamb
1 large onion, diced
1 large tomato, diced
5 large mint leaves, torn
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tsp salt
1 tsp allspice
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp cayenne
2 tbsp plain Greek yogurt
1 tbsp tahini
2 tsp Balsamic vinegar*
1 tsp lemon juice*
20 cherries, pitted*
2 tbsp butter {I would omit this next time!}

*{Can skip this if you have pomegranate molasses. In that case, use 1 tbsp pomegranate molasses.}

Optional Toppings

Additional yogurt
Additional pine nuts
Feta cheese
Lemon wedges

Instructions:

Set the cup of milk out so it can warm to room temperature. You can check with a thermometer; you want the milk to be ~100 degrees. Once it’s warm, whisk in the yeast. Once the yeast is dissolved, set the bowl aside until it begins to froth and bubble a little bit.
Now mix the other dough ingredients in another bowl. Mix well.
Once the milk/yeast bowl has frothed up, add it to the bowl of a stand mixer with the bread hook attachment. Start the mixer on low and add the flour/etc bowl to the stand mixer bowl. Allow this to work together for ~10 minutes. (Alternately, do this step by hand and knead for 10 minutes.)
Now cover the dough in the bowl with a dry cloth and allow to rise. You want it to double in size. This will take 1 1/2 to 2 hours.
Take a break for awhile or make your filling so its ready when the dough is. The filling can sit in the fridge for awhile if need be.
To start the filling, add the pine nuts to a small pan, so they make one flat layer. Toast over medium heat for only a few minutes. You’ll notice them start to get brown and toasty. It only takes a few minutes… don’t let them burn! Remove from heat and set aside.
Pit and halve cherries. Squish them with the back of a spoon to juice the cherries. Place the juice in a small pan over low heat with the balsamic vinegar and lemon juice. It will thicken up after only 5 minutes or so. Once your juice/sauce has thickened, remove from heat.
Combine toasted pine nuts, cherry/pomegranate syrup, onion, tomatoes, garlic, mint, and spices in a food processor. Pulse until they are well-combined.
In a large bowl, combine the above mixture with lamb, yogurt, and tahini. It may seem a little on the liquid-y side (I thought so!), but it’s fine. Refrigerate if you’re still waiting on your dough.
Once dough is ready, roll into small balls between your palms. You want the balls to be fairly small… prune-sized?? Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Flour a dry surface and roll out your dough balls into rough circles.
Place 1-2 tbsp of the meat filling in the center of the dough, depending upon the size of your dough. You want a fairly small dollop, smaller than you might be inclined to use. Pinch up the edges of the dough into corners.
Place little pastries on a cookie sheet that’s either covered with a Silpat mat (greatest invention!) or sprayed with cooking spray.
Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. The edges should be golden-brown and the filling should be sizzling.
Enjoy plain or top with a dollop of yogurt, some feta, extra pine nuts, or a squeeze of lemon.