Stranger Foods

Open meat pies

Serves 12 | Prep 2 hr | Cook 20 mins

These easy-to-make ‘open’ pies are loved by kids and grown-ups alike. They are perfect party food: great to snack on and also really practical, as they can be batch-made and then baked from frozen. They’re also lovely for a light meal, served with a fattoush (or any other) salad.

Source: Falastin

Ingredients

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Imperial

x0.5

Dough

1½ tsp fast-action dried yeast
1 tsp caster sugar
170 ml lukewarm water
320 g plain flour
1 tbsp milk powder
⅛ tsp ground turmeric (optional)
3 tbsp sunflower oil
3 tbsp olive oil, plus extra for greasing
salt

Meat topping

250 g lamb mince
1 small onion, chopped
1 medium tomato, finely chopped
3 tbsp tahini
½ tsp ground cinnamon
¾ tsp ground allspice
¾ tsp Aleppo chilli flake, or ½ tsp regular chilli flakes
15 g parsley, finely chopped
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp sumac
25 g pine nuts

To serve

2 lemons, cut into wedges

Instructions

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First make the dough. Put the yeast, sugar and water into a small bowl and whisk to combine. Set aside for , until it starts to bubble.
Put the flour, milk powder, turmeric, if using, and ¾ teaspoon of salt into the bowl of a free-standing mixer with the dough hook in place. Mix for , just to incorporate, then add the yeast mixture, followed by both oils. Work on a low speed for about , to bring everything together, then increase the speed to medium. Continue to mix for , until the dough is soft and elastic. It will feel very soft and almost sticky, but this is how it should be. Tip the dough on to a clean work surface and bring together to form a ball. Grease the mixing bowl with 1 tablespoon of oil and return the dough to the bowl. Turn it a couple of times so that it’s completely coated in oil, then cover the bowl with a clean tea towel. Set aside somewhere warm for , until it’s doubled in size.
Roll the dough out into the shape of a sausage, about 30 cm long, and cut into 12 even pieces, about 45 g each. Roll each piece into a ball, place on a large plate, cover with a clean tea towel and set aside for , to rest.
If making the meat topping, put all the ingredients for the topping, apart from the pine nuts and lemon wedges, into a separate bowl. Add 1¼ teaspoons of salt and mix well to combine: doing this with your hands is the best way. Set aside.
Preheat the oven temperature to 200°C fan.
Arrange the dough balls on two large parchment-lined baking trays, spaced well apart. Using your fingers, flatten each ball into a round disc, about 10 cm wide and 2–3 mm thick. Spoon 2 heaped tablespoons (about 50 g) of whichever topping you are using into the centre of each disc and spread it out evenly, leaving a 1 cm border clear around the edge. Sprinkle over the pine nuts, if you are doing the meat topping, and set aside for another . Bake for , rotating the trays around halfway through (or even switching around the position of the trays if it looks like the pies on the top tray are taking on too much colour), or until the sfiha are cooked and the edges are golden brown. Remove from the oven and serve warm or at room temperature, with a wedge of lemon alongside.

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