Spiced Meat Pies Lahmejun Recipes

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C). Place the potato in a saucepan with enough water to cover. Bring to a boil, and cook until tender, about 5 minutes. Drain, mash, and set aside.
• Meanwhile, crumble the ground beef and pork into a large saucepan, and add the garlic, onion and water. Season with mustard powder, thyme, cloves and salt. Cook over medium heat, stirring to crumble the meat and mix in the spices, until the meat is evenly browned. Remove from the heat, and mix in the mashed potato.
• Place one of the pie crusts into a 9 inch pie plate. Fill with the meat mixture, then top with the other pie crust. Prick the top crust a few times with a knife to vent steam. Crimp around the edges using the tines of the fork, and remove any excess dough. Cover the edges of the pie crust with aluminum foil.
• Bake for 25 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the crust has browned. Serve by itself, or with a beef gravy.

Steps:

• In a small bowl, mix active dry yeast, 1 tablespoon sugar and 1/2 cup warm water. Allow to stand approximately 5 minutes.
• In a large bowl, mix flour, salt, 3 tablespoons shortening, remaining sugar, remaining water and the yeast preparation. Knead until smooth. Use the remaining shortening to remove any dough sticking to the sides of the bowl, and to remove dough from fingers. Cover with a towel and place in a warm location until doubled in size, about 2 to 3 hours.
• In a medium bowl, mix ground beef, tomatoes, onions, parsley, green bell pepper, salt, cayenne pepper and black pepper. Chill in the refrigerator until ready to use.
• Preheat oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C). Lightly flour a large baking sheet.
• On a lightly floured surface, form dough into 12 balls. Separate each ball in half. Roll halves into balls. Place balls on the prepared baking sheet. Allow to stand approximately 10 minutes.
• Roll balls into 7 inch diameter circles. Spread approximately 1 1/2 tablespoons meat mixture over each circle. Bake in the preheated oven 15 to 20 minutes, or until beef is no longer pink and dough is lightly browned.

Steps:

• 1. To make dough: Combine yeast and 2 tablespoons warm water and set aside for 5 minutes. Combine flour and salt in a large bowl; add oil, yeast mixture and a scant 1/2 cup warm water. Mix, using hands if necessary, until dough comes together: it should be elastic but not sticky. If needed, add a little more flour or water. Turn out onto a board (no need to flour it) and knead until soft and smooth, about 10 minutes. Transfer to a bowl, cover and let rise in a warm place 1 hour. 2. When dough has risen, combine all ingredients for topping in a bowl. Divide dough in two and roll out on a floured surface to about 1/8-inch thickness. Cut 3-inch rounds with a water glass or cookie cutter, stacking them between layers of wax paper. Roll and cut remaining dough. 3. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spread a heaping tablespoon of meat mixture on each dough round, spreading all the way to the edge: meat mixture will shrink during baking. (Once assembled, pies can be frozen, stacked in wax paper, and then baked directly from freezer.) Arrange pies on 2 lightly oiled baking sheets. Bake 20 minutes, rotating pans halfway through baking. Serve hot, sprinkled with lemon juice and coarse salt. *Note: Refrigerated pizza dough or dough from a pizzeria will work well in this recipe. Some Middle Eastern markets also stock frozen mini pastry rounds.