SFEEHA BAALBAKIEH

A Brief of The Baalbek Roman Ruins in Lebanon

As early as 9000 BC, Baalbek was a place for worship and became a cornerstone of ancient civilizations. Located in modern-day Lebanon, the ruins stand tall as an archaeological wonder with towering monuments and impressive columns.

As significant holy grounds, Baalbek was a center for Mesopotamian, Roman, Christian, and Islamic worship as each group introduced their own heritage to this sacred monument.

I am sharing with you a simple, delicious recipe from the Baalbak Region; it’s called Sfeeha Baalbakieh, which means meat pastries from Baalback. Sfeeha used to be prepared by the farmers when they have freshly cut lamb meat. They will finely chop it with their sharp big knives, add some chopped onions and tomatoes from the garden, and some spices for flavoring. The mix is used in stuffing some dough prepared in advance and turned into meat pastries called Sfeeha, as a meat-based pocket

SFEEHA BAALBAKIEH

Try this iconic pastry, this Baalbek specialty, nothing beats them!

INGREDIENTS

8 cups flour

1cup yogurt

1 cup vegetable oil

1 tbsp. sugar

1 ½ tsp. salt

1 ½ tsp. dried yeast

¼ cup warm water to dissolve the yeast

Water to add to the dough, as much as it holds

PREPARATION

Begin by placing the yeast in a small bowl, add the warm water and sugar, mix well until the yeast is dissolved. Let it sit in a warm place for about 5 minutes or until it begins to foam.

In another bowl, sift the flour and salt. Then make a pit in the middle large enough to hold the yogurt and oil. Knead with your hands until all blended well.

When yeast has foamed, add it over the flour mixture and knead well till it’s smooth and soft. Add water if needed.

Shape the dough into a ball with your hands and place it in a greased bowl that is at least twice as large as the ball of dough. Turn the dough over to grease the entire surface.

Cover with a kitchen towel and leave to rest for half an hour.

In the meantime begin preparing the meat filling.

INGREDIENTS

1 kg Minced Meat

1 and 1/2 cup chopped Onions

1 cup chopped Green Onions (optional)

Choose spices that u like, Lebanese 7 Spices, Cinnamon, and Salt

1/2 cup Pine nuts

2 large tbsp. Pomegranate Molasses

Half cup Vegetable Oil

METHOD

Heat up the oil and half brown the pine nuts (as they will get more browned while in the oven). Add the chopped onions to fry, while half fried add the minced meat, spices, and salt. Keep stirring until the meat gets half fried. (For safety reasons, try to cook the meat couple of minutes just to change color and you don’t see any red in the meat. Cool before filling the pastries).

Remove from heat and add the pomegranate molasses.

Once you are done with the meat filling. Bring back the dough and knead it for a few minutes till it is smooth and elastic.

Heat the oven at this time.

Now divide the dough into walnut size balls. Roll between hand palms to smooth. Dust your board with some flour and roll out the balls with a rolling pin to form 8 cm diameter circles. Put one tablespoon of meat mixture in the center of each circle. Now pinch the circle at four ends to create a square, closing and pressing the sides together to seal the dough and to keep the juice from running out. (You can refer back to the picture).

 Arrange meat pastries in a tray with an oiled baking sheet, 1 inch apart. Bake in a moderate heat oven (180 degrees) for 15 to 20 minutes on the middle shelf, till dough, is golden and meat is cooked.

Serve hot with yogurt as a first course, or serve warm as an appetizer, squeeze over some lemon and enjoy.

NOTE:

Couple of secrets for the sfeeha: we can add chopped tomatoes finely chopped and seeds removed, to the meat mixture, the pastries will taste moister when eating them.

you can substitute tomatoes with yogurt and tahini, and you’ll have” sfeeha bi laban”....Amazing stuff!