35. Recipe: Sambusik.
Description
This article is from the Lebanon FAQ, by Alaa Dakroub dakroub@leb.net with numerous contributions by others.
35. Recipe: Sambusik.
Meat Filling:
1 tablespoon butter
1 small onion chopped
5 to 1 lb ground beef or lamb
3 to 4 tablespoons of pine nuts
1/2 teaspoon allspice
Pinch of cinnamon
Salt and pepper to taste
2 teaspoons of lemon juice
Melt butter in saucepan and add onion. Saute' until tender and then
add meat. Cook until just brown, then add remaining ingredients. Cook
and stir about 2 minutes.
Spinach Filling:
1 lb spinach fresh or frozen
1/4 cup olive oil
1 small onion chopped
1/4 crumbled feta cheese or
cottage cheese
Juice of one squeezed lemon
1/4 teaspoon sumak
Salt and pepper to taste
Rinse spinach throughly several times and trim off stems. Chop leaves
and drain well. If you use frozen spinach, squeeze dry after thawing
and fluff with a fork to separate. Put it in a large bowl, and then
start heating olive oil and add onion. Saute' about a minute and then
add this to the bowl of spinach. Add remaining ingredients and toss/
stir gently to mix well.
Cheese Filling:
1 cup crumbled feta, ricotta,
or Syrian cheese
1 small onion grated
1/2 cup fresh parsley
Salt and pepper to taste
Combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix well.
Prepare filling. Preheat oven to 350F. Using filo dough (about 20 sheets
for each recipe, or one box), cut lengthwise into thirds (making long, thin
strips). Keep the rest covered with plastic wrap to prevent it from drying
out. Using one strip (of the three), take one from the top and brush it with
clarified (melted) butter. Then continue until you have a total of four, all
stacked on top of each other, each one brushed with butter (except the top
one).
Place a heaping tablestoon in the corner of each strip, and fold it flag-
flag fashion, to make a triangle. Place seam-side (when you are done folding
it, it looks like a seam - just turn it upside down) on a baking sheet with
as many as the baking sheet can hold, but give each a little space inbetween.
Brush each top with butter and bake about 15 or 20 minutes or until the top
is golden.
If your butter starts to get cold (hard to brush sheets with), just put it
on the stove for a few minutes until it melts. The butter is best when it is
melted, but not too hot. It is good to use a paint brush to brush the sheets,
and I don't know if you've ever made baklawa before, but follow the directions
of thawing the filo dough. It is hard to make sometimes, but if you have it
at the right temperature, it will work very well. Be sure to cover the dough
that you are not using, to make sure it doesn't dry out on you.
I think this is the best recipe (easiest), but if it's the first time you are
using it, it won't take very long before you know how to wrap each triangle.
Salam and sahteen,
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