Lahma Bajeen - Meat Pies
Lamb, pine nuts and tomato come together in this Lebanese dish, fragrant with cinnamon and allspice and baked in the oven. It's finished with meat.
2 hr 20 min · Serves 18 · Takes some skill
Ingredients
Jamilahs basic dough
Meat filling
Method
Start cooking mode- Prep 120 min · Cook 20 min · 140 min total
- hard
- 1
Dough:. Dissolve the sugar in the ¼ cup water. Sprinkle the yeast over the water and let ferment and bubble.
- 2
In a large bowl combine the yeast, flour, salt, olive oil, egg, and warm milk. Knead until a soft dough is formed. Dough will be slightly sticky, so always make sure your hands have a little olive oil on them.
- 3
Lightly grease the same bowl with olive oil. Return the dough to the bowl, cover with a clean cloth and leave in a warm dry place for at least 2 hours, until doubled.
- 4
Meat Filling:. Heat the olive oil in a heavy large skillet over medium high heat. Add the ground lamb or beef and stir and cook until the meat is crumbly and it is no longer pink.
- 5
Stir in the chopped onion and cook, stirring until the onion is soft, about 5 minutes. Stir in the pine nuts and all of the spices and seasonings. Stir and cook for one minute. Add the chopped tomatoes.
- 6
Cover the skillet, reduce the heat to low and cook for 10-15 minutes until the tomato is soft.
- 7
Remove from heat. Stir in the fresh lemon juice. The mixture should not be watery but it should be moist. Set aside to cool.
- 8
Assembly:. Take fist-fulls of the dough and on a floured surface roll out into small balls. Let rest for 5 minutes. Flatten each dough ball into 4” disc, about ½” thick.
- 9
Place on a lightly oiled baking sheet and top with meat. Repeat with remaining dough and meat.
- 10
Bake until golden brown, about 18-20 minutes. Serve warm. Best way to eat: Serve hot out of the oven or warm with fresh lemon or plain yogurt.
Notes and swaps
- Not assessed yet. Check each ingredient if you have an allergy.
