Once you try a Sfeeha, you are hooked. This Middle-Eastern lamb pine-nuts pie or savory pastry taste like heaven, they are traditionally served as an appetizer, sometimes with mini pizzas and other savory pastries as finger food. Sometimes they are made in bigger size and quantity to replace a main meal for lunch.
Ask any Middle-Eastern about them and they must have a favorite place or recipe. The best part is that wherever you have them, they are slightly made different. Sometimes the pastry is very thin, sometimes it is thick, sometimes different spices are added, sometimes it is just concentrated with meat and onion, some people eat them with yogurt, some eat them with tahini, either way, and anywhere they are mostly very tasty.
My mother’s recipe below is really worth millions, she makes one of the best Sfeeha I have ever had in my life, not just because they are my mothers, but really the taste is just exquisite. You can easily remove some of the ingredients for a different juice, and it is up to you how spicy you wish to make your Sfeeha.
All pictures are taken with a CANON 70D, give this recipe a try to share your experience with me on this blog.
Enjoy this song while you are at the making, it is by a Lebanese alternative rock band, Mashrou’ Leila مشروع ليلى – Fasateen
SUZIE|S KITCHEN
Make enough for 8 people – Preparation Time 1 hour
Sfeeha | Lahm bi Ajeen – لحم بعجين|صفيحة
Ingredients:
15 – 20 sqaure frozen puff pasry
1 kilo of “soft” fine minced meat
1 large red onion (peeled)
1 teaspoon of salt
Pinch of black pepper
Pinch of mixed pepper
Pinch of ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon finally chopped fresh ginger
2 tablespoon of pomegranate molasses دبس رمان
1 tablespoon of yogurt
1 tablespoon of ketchup
1 tablespoon of tahini
Pinch of crushed red pepper (or as DESIRED)
1 teaspoon of hot sauce (Tabasco or any other)
1 tablespoon of olive oil
1/2 cup roasted of pine-nuts
recipe:
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Preheat the oven to 300 (F).
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Finally crush the red onion with an electric mixer.
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Mixx the onion with the minced meat.
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Add all the flavoring spoons of spices and juicing into the meat and mix very well.
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On a cooking tray, start lining the pastry one next to the other, adding 1 tablespoon. of the juiced meat on top of each pastry and spreading the meat over the pastry covering the full square.
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Sprinkle the meat pastry with pine nuts.
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Place your cooking tray into the oven for 15 to 20 minutes.
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Your pies should look a little golden before serving.
Note: Prepare your meat pies only half an hour before serving for better taste. We always serve yogurt and fresh mint on the side along with a big bowl of salad.
Check out our very favorite how to make Hummus at home by clicking on this photograph.
Razan Masri 