Sfiha Baalbakiyeh

Ingredients

• 500g plain flour
• 7g instant dried yeast
• 1 tsp caster sugar
• 1 tsp fine salt
• 100g plain yoghurt
• 60ml vegetable oil
• 200ml lukewarm water
• 450g minced lamb (20% fat)
• 2 medium onions
• 300g ripe tomatoes
• 2 tbsp pomegranate molasses
• 2 tbsp tomato paste
• 1.5 tsp seven spice (baharat)
• 0.5 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1.5 tsp fine salt for the filling
• 0.5 tsp black pepper
• 40g pine nuts
• Lemon wedges and yoghurt, to serve

Before you cook

• Stir the yeast and sugar into the lukewarm water and leave it for ten minutes until frothy.
• Grate the onions on the coarse side of a box grater, then squeeze the pulp firmly in your hands to remove the juice.
• Chop the tomatoes very finely and drain them in a sieve for fifteen minutes.
• Weigh the flour and salt into a large bowl.

Steps

1. Pour the yeast liquid, yoghurt and oil into the flour and mix to a soft dough.
2. Knead the dough for eight minutes until smooth, then cover it and leave it to rise for ninety minutes.
3. Combine the minced lamb, squeezed onion, drained tomato, pomegranate molasses, tomato paste, seven spice, cinnamon, salt and pepper in a bowl.
4. Knead the filling with your hands for two minutes so the fat and spices distribute evenly.
5. Cover the filling and chill it until the dough is ready.
6. Heat the oven to 220C and line two large baking trays.
7. Divide the risen dough into twenty pieces of about forty-five grams each and roll them into balls.
8. Rest the balls under a cloth for ten minutes.
9. Roll each ball into a round about ten centimetres across on a lightly floured surface.
10. Spoon a heaped tablespoon of filling onto the centre of a round and spread it almost to the edge.
11. Pinch the dough up at four points around the round and press each pinch flat to form a square with the meat exposed in the middle.
12. Shape and fill the rest the same way, spacing them well on the trays.
13. Press a few pine nuts into the surface of each pie.
14. Bake the pies for twelve to fifteen minutes, until the meat is bubbling and the dough is golden underneath.
15. Serve hot with lemon wedges and a bowl of yoghurt.