Pastries with Feta & Halloumi or Olives

If you could peek inside people’s homes in a small village, you would see Lebanese mothers preparing these delicious little pastries—called samboussek—Tony Kitous assures you in his new book Comptoir Libanais – Feest! You can make them with a feta and halloumi filling or with olives.

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 200 °C/gas mark 6.

2. Sift the flour into a large bowl and stir in the sugar and salt. Make a well in the centre and pour in the tablespoon of beaten egg, the oil, melted butter and water. Stir everything together until you have a rough dough, tip it onto your work surface or a chopping board and knead until smooth. Set aside.

3. Mix the ingredients for the cheese filling together in one bowl and the ingredients for the olive filling in another bowl.

4. Roll out the dough on a lightly floured work surface until it is approximately ½ cm thick. Cut out circles with a 9 cm round cutter. If it is easier, you can first divide the dough into four portions and roll them out one at a time.

5. Spoon the cheese filling onto half of the pastry circles (about 20) and the olive filling onto the other twenty. Close the circles by folding them in half and pinching the edges shut. Brush with beaten egg. Sprinkle with nigella or sesame seeds. Place them on a baking tray and bake in the oven for 15 minutes, until golden. Brush them once more halfway through with the egg glaze if you think that is necessary.

Tony’s tip:
‘You don’t need any special kitchen gadgets here—if you don’t have a cutter, you can also use a glass to cut out the pastry circles. You can also use other fillings in this recipe: spicy minced lamb, cheese with herbs, or spinach with herbs. Don’t use too much filling per pastry, otherwise they will split. I like to dip my samboussek in tahini or harissa.’

Title: Comptoir Libanais – Feest!
Author: Tony Kitous
Publisher: Becht
Price: €24.99