How to Cook Spicy Meat Pastries: Packed with sweet and sour flavours, these intricate little pastries are known as sambusak in Greece where they are often served as part of a mixed meze.
Traditionally fried, they can also be baked.
Ingredients: 175 g plain flour 1/2 teaspoon sea salt 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil 1 egg yolk, lightly beaten Filling: 3-4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil 1 large onion, finely chopped 200 g lean minced lamb 1 teaspoon ground allspice 1 teaspoon ground cumin a large pinch of ground cinnamon freshly squeezed juice of 1 lemon 3 tablespoons raisins, rinsed 150 ml hot water 3 tablespoons finely chopped fresh mint leaves 2 tablespoons pine nuts, toasted in a dry frying pan sea salt and freshly ground black pepper Directions: To make the pastry, sift the flour and salt into a bowl.
Make a well in the centre, add the olive oil and mix with your fingers.
Add 90 ml water and knead until a soft, neat ball is formed.
Cover with clingfilm and let rest for 30 minutes.
To make the filling, heat the olive oil in a saucepan, add the onion and saute until it turns light brown, about 10 minutes.
Increase the heat and add the lamb, turning and breaking up the lumps until all the moisture has evaporated and it starts to sizzle.
Add the allspice, cumin, cinnamon, salt and pepper and brown for 2-3 minutes.
It should be a fairly dry mixture by then.
Add the mint and pine nuts and set aside.
Divide the pastry in half.
Put one piece on a lightly-floured surface and roll out thinly to a circle about 30 cm in diameter, turning the pastry frequently.
Cut out rounds with the pastry cutter.
Gather the remaining pastry from around the discs and add it to the remaining portion of pastry.
Knead until soft again, cover and set aside.
Have a small bowl of cold water by you.
Put 1 teaspoon of filling in the middle of a round of pastry.
Dip a finger in the water and wet the edges, then fold half of the pastry over the other half making a half-moon shape.
Press the edges firmly to seal and put it on an oiled baking sheet.
Repeat until all the rounds have been used.
Roll out the remaining pastry, cut out more rounds and repeat the process.
Brush the tops with the egg yolk and bake in a preheated oven at 400 degrees F.
Gas 6 for 10-12 minutes until light golden.
Makes about 30
Traditionally fried, they can also be baked.
Ingredients: 175 g plain flour 1/2 teaspoon sea salt 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil 1 egg yolk, lightly beaten Filling: 3-4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil 1 large onion, finely chopped 200 g lean minced lamb 1 teaspoon ground allspice 1 teaspoon ground cumin a large pinch of ground cinnamon freshly squeezed juice of 1 lemon 3 tablespoons raisins, rinsed 150 ml hot water 3 tablespoons finely chopped fresh mint leaves 2 tablespoons pine nuts, toasted in a dry frying pan sea salt and freshly ground black pepper Directions: To make the pastry, sift the flour and salt into a bowl.
Make a well in the centre, add the olive oil and mix with your fingers.
Add 90 ml water and knead until a soft, neat ball is formed.
Cover with clingfilm and let rest for 30 minutes.
To make the filling, heat the olive oil in a saucepan, add the onion and saute until it turns light brown, about 10 minutes.
Increase the heat and add the lamb, turning and breaking up the lumps until all the moisture has evaporated and it starts to sizzle.
Add the allspice, cumin, cinnamon, salt and pepper and brown for 2-3 minutes.
It should be a fairly dry mixture by then.
Add the mint and pine nuts and set aside.
Divide the pastry in half.
Put one piece on a lightly-floured surface and roll out thinly to a circle about 30 cm in diameter, turning the pastry frequently.
Cut out rounds with the pastry cutter.
Gather the remaining pastry from around the discs and add it to the remaining portion of pastry.
Knead until soft again, cover and set aside.
Have a small bowl of cold water by you.
Put 1 teaspoon of filling in the middle of a round of pastry.
Dip a finger in the water and wet the edges, then fold half of the pastry over the other half making a half-moon shape.
Press the edges firmly to seal and put it on an oiled baking sheet.
Repeat until all the rounds have been used.
Roll out the remaining pastry, cut out more rounds and repeat the process.
Brush the tops with the egg yolk and bake in a preheated oven at 400 degrees F.
Gas 6 for 10-12 minutes until light golden.
Makes about 30