I’m all about simplicity. Mainly simplicity when it comes to cooking. Because really, who wants to spend more time making delicious food, like let’s say middle eastern meat pies, when you can cut that time in half? This girl right here. That’s me! I have no patience. I openly admit it. It’s something I’ve been actively working on for 30 years. However, the truth is, patience does not come easily to me. I have a hard time waiting for just about anything. So it’s no surprise that bread making is a serious test of my patience. I have made various breads in the past. I tested out some sesame bread that didn’t make it onto the blog, as well as Zaatar Bread, and Irish Soda Bread.
If you’re familiar with middle eastern meat pies, you know that traditionally, they’re made with a flat dough — usually homemade. That’s the time consuming part. And then topped with a minced meat mixture (either lamb or beef). A fair number of my friends actually make their dough from scratch–they must have a ton more patience than I do – and it’s absolutely delicious. If you’re simply impatient like me, or just don’t have the time to whip up some of your own dough, then puff pastry is the dough of your dreams.
I’m going to be honest, puff pastry is actually really great for large tarts, both savory and sweet, and can be used as a substitute for pizza dough too. Puff pastry is really fluffy once baked. The hardest part is trying to figure out when it has defrosted enough for you to pull the sheets open without breaking them apart.
Ingredients
- 1 package Puff Pastry
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 medium onion, finely chopped
- 1 lb ground beef
- 2 tablespoons Seven spice
- 1 tablespoon Cinnamon
- Salt to taste
- 2 tablespoons of pomegranate molasses
- 3 tablespoons yogurt
- 3 tablespoons pine nuts
Instructions
- Remove the puff pastry from the packaging and place on a lightly floured surface
- Allow the puff pastry to defrost (no more than 40 minutes), until the dough is easy to pull apart
- Flatten out the puff pastry dough and cut each sheet into 9 squares and place on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. You can follow the creases already showing in the dough (you'll need two baking sheets)
- Heat the oven to 425 F
- Heat one tablespoon olive oil in a large skillet
- Add the onions and sauté until translucent
- Add the ground beef and cook over medium-high heat until cooked about 3/4 way through
- Mix in the seven spice, cinnamon and salt
- Stir in the pomegranate molasses until the ground beef is coated
- Stir in the yogurt, then transfer to the food processor
- Pulse the meat mixture a few times until the ground beef is minced
- For the pine nuts, place the pine nuts in an even layer on a baking sheet and broil for 5 minutes, until very lightly browned
- Use a large spoon to make small indents in the middle of each puff pastry square -- think of it as the space you'll put your meat filling
- Spoon the meat mixture into the middle of each square and top with pine nuts
- Transfer the baking sheets to the oven and bake for 10 minutes
- Serve warm
