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Sfiha Recipe is a delicious Lebanese open meat pie made from a flat bread and a delicious mixture of meat, tomatoes and spices. A famous dish not only in Lebanon but throughout the Middle East. Consumed at any time of the day, it can be a snack, a snack or a main course.
What is Lebanese Sfiha
Defined as a Lebanese meat pastries, Sfeeha or Sfiha, is often also referred to as a meat pizza. The base is a disc of bread which is stuffed with a mixture of minced lamb or beef, seasoned with spices such as cinnamon, Jamaican pepper, pine nuts, tomatoes, onions and peppers and then cooked in the oven. Sometimes, however, it can be also found in the shape of a closed or semi-closed bundle and in the shape of a panzerotto. It’s a very tasty dish, and it’s not difficult to understand why it is so appreciated, succulent well seasoned meat accompanied by bread, there is nothing better!
I found the recipe for this Lebanese dish in a book, and as always before jumping in, I did a bit of research, and in my wandering around to find information, I discovered that the book was missing some very important ingredient, and moreover the Sheefa are prepared with many variations ranging from the preparation of the pasta dough to that of the stuffing. This variation depends on the area and the recipe that is handed down. Not to mention that the meat filling can be placed on the pasta raw or already cooked.
Sfiha Origins
The Sfiha Recipe has origins in what is now Eastern Lebanon in the 14th century. Initially, the spiced meat mixture was used to stuff the pickled vine leaves. Soon the recipe developed, and began to spread to many Arab regions becoming a popular and beloved dish, in Turkey it is known as Pide. Consumed at any time of the day, even for breakfast, the Lebanese Sfiha recipe can be found in restaurants, in shops where they sell bread and even on street corners.
In large formats, it is served as a single dish, served with yoghurt and tahina, in small formats, it is eaten as a meze, i.e. as an appetiser. They are often served with pine nuts, grains of pomegranate, fresh coriander and cucumber.
This dish, originally from Lebanese cuisine, is very famous and loved also in Argentina and Brazil, it was introduced by Levantine migrants and takes the name of Esfiha.
Sfiha Recipe Preparation
As mentioned above, I found many recipes that had variations in the preparation, and in the end I opted for dough prepared with milk instead of water and with butter instead of vegetable oil. For the dressing I wanted to use the lamb in its most complete version, therefore with tomatoes, onions, peppers, various spices and also the pomegranate molasses which I must say was a real discovery! It’s sweet but also tart, but not cloying, and I can’t wait to try it in other dishes!
Sfiha Dough
First, let’s prepare the dough that will have to rise for 2 hours. Pour the warm milk, sugar into a bowl and dissolve the instant yeast, add the salt. After mixing everything, add the flour mixed with the baking powder a little at a time, once all incorporated, add the soft butter and continue to knead until completely absorbed. Let the dough rise for 2 hours in the oven with the light on or with the leavening function if your oven has it.
The Filling
For the filling, take the minced lamb and place it in a large bowl. Cut the tomatoes into small pieces and blend them. Once blended, place them in a fine mesh sieve so that any excess water can run off. This will serve to have a more dry filling, that will release less water during cooking. Now clean the onions and red bell pepper and blend those too together with the parsley.
Add the drained tomatoes, the onions and the pepper blended with the parsley and all the other ingredients except the yoghurt. Before adding it to the filling, decide whether to cook the meat first or cook it in the oven. If you cook the meat in a pan, add a drop of oil, cook the meat, let the liquids dry well and once cooked, turn off the heat and then add the yoghurt. If, on the other hand, you cook everything in the oven, you can add everything and mix well.
If you are using the filling raw, put it in a colander resting on a bowl because the filling will release juices.
Preparation and Cooking
After two hours divide the dough, as I often do, I weighed the dough, I found the right size for each ball and I divided the dough. With this dough I got 52 Lebanese Sfiha each ball of dough weighed about 34 g. Line a baking sheet with baking paper and preheat the static oven to 200°C. Create some balls and start rolling them out and then adding the filling onto them by pressing them either with your fingers or with the back of a spoon.
Put the Sfiha in the pan and cook them for 15/17 minutes, while you continue with the others, once cooking is complete, move on to the next batch until everything is finished.
Serve the Sfiha recipe fresh from the oven, or you can reheat them in the oven at 160 °C, so they don’t dry out too much.
If you liked this Sfiha Recipe, Lahmacun Turchi, I also recommend the Turkish Lahmacun.
Sfiha Recipe With Lamb
Attrezzature
- Mixer
- Rolling Pin
Ingredienti
Dough
- 830 g All Purpose Flour
- 300 ml of Water 40 – 45 °C
- 180 g Butter
- 25 g Instant Yeast
- 1 tsp Caster Sugar
- 1 tsp Salt
Stuffing
- 1 kg Lamb Minced Meat or beef
- 4 Tbsp Corn Oil
- 2 White Onions chopped
- 1 Bell Peppers red
- 90 g of Tomatoes approx. 2
- 300 ml of Yogurt
- 4 Tbsp Pine Nuts
- 1 tsp Allspice minced
- 1 tsp Dry Chili Peppers
- 1 tsp Cinnamon
- 7,5 g Salt
- 1 Lemon Juice
- ⅓ cup of Parsley
- 2 Tbsp Pomegranate Molasses
To Serve
- Yogurt
- Pickles
Istruzioni
Dough
- Heat 300 ml of Water until lukewarm, not over 45 °C. Dissolve 1 tsp Caster Sugar and then the 25 g Instant Yeast and set aside.
- Melt 180 g Butter and melt 1 tsp Salt in it.
- Make a well with 830 g All Purpose Flour, put the water and butter in the centre, knead until a smooth dough is obtained. Place it in an oiled bowl and cover with cling film. Leave to rise at room temperature, if it is hot, either in the oven with the light on or with the rising function for 1 hour.
Stuffing
- Cut up 90 g of Tomatoes by removing the seeds, then put them in a colander so that the excess water runs off.
- Chop 1 Bell Peppers, a ⅓ cup of Parsley and the 2 White Onions.
- To use the cooked mixture, mix the mince and tomatoes with 1 kg Lamb Minced Meat, also add 4 Tbsp Pine Nuts, 1 tsp Allspice, 1 tsp Dry Chili Peppers, 11 tsp Cinnamon, 7,5 g Salt, 1 Lemon Juice, ⅓ cup of Parsley and 2 Tbsp Pomegranate Molasses.
- Mix everything together to form a well-blended dough.
- Heat a frying pan with 4 Tbsp Corn Oil, and cook it in the pan, once cooked let it cool for a few minutes and then add 300 ml of Yogurt mix well.
- In the case of the raw dough, once the ingredients have been mixed as above, put the filling in a colander as it will release liquid. When it has finished draining, add the yoghurt.
Preparing Lebanese Sfiha
- Divide the dough into 52 balls and let them rise for 15 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 180 °C.
- Take a ball and roll it out into a disc about ½ cm thick. Take some filling and use your fingertips or the back of a spoon to press the filling into the dough. Place the Sfeeha on a baking tray lined with baking paper, and continue like this until the last ball.
- Bake the Sfiha for 25 to 30 minutes, depending on your oven. Once cooked, serve them still hot served with yoghurt and Lebanese pickles.
Nutrizione
Le informazioni nutrizionali mostrate sono una stima fornita da un calcolatore nutrizionale online. Non deve essere considerato un sostituto del consiglio di un nutrizionista professionista.