My Lamb Borekas

Name: My Lamb Borekas
Ingredients: 1 Tablespoon Olive Oil; 1/2 whole Small Yellow Onion, Chopped Finely; 1/4 teaspoons Ground Cardamom; 1/4 teaspoons Ground Cinnamon; 1/4 teaspoons Ginger; 1/4 teaspoons Mace; 18 teaspoons Ground Allspice; 18 teaspoons Ground Coriander; 18 teaspoons Ground Nutmeg; 18 teaspoons Turmeric; 2 pinches Black Pepper; 1 pinch White Pepper; 1 pinch Cayenne Pepper; 1/2 pounds Ground Lamb; 13 cups Toasted Pine Nuts, Chopped; 1/2 teaspoons Kosher Salt; 1/2 pounds Phyllo, Thawed; 1/2 sticks Butter, Clarified; 1/2 teaspoons Cinnamon Sugar

19 ingredients

26 steps

Ingredients

1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
1/2 whole Small Yellow Onion, Chopped Finely
1/4 teaspoons Ground Cardamom
1/4 teaspoons Ground Cinnamon
1/4 teaspoons Ginger
1/4 teaspoons Mace
18 teaspoons Ground Allspice
18 teaspoons Ground Coriander
18 teaspoons Ground Nutmeg
18 teaspoons Turmeric
2 pinches Black Pepper
1 pinch White Pepper
1 pinch Cayenne Pepper
1/2 pounds Ground Lamb
13 cups Toasted Pine Nuts, Chopped
1/2 teaspoons Kosher Salt
1/2 pounds Phyllo, Thawed
1/2 sticks Butter, Clarified
1/2 teaspoons Cinnamon Sugar

Directions

1

Heat olive oil in a nonstick skillet over medium low flame.
2

Add chopped onion and cook, stirring until onion goes soft, about five minutes.
3

Add spices and cook over low heat for another 5 minutes or so.
4

Increase flame to medium, adding lamb and pine nuts.
5

Cook, stirring and breaking up lamb for about 5 minutes until meat is no longer pink.
6

Add salt to taste and set aside to cool.
7

Preheat oven to 350F.
8

Line a baking sheet with parchment.
9

Unroll phyllo dough onto clean surface, cover with plastic wrap and top with a damp tea towel.
10

On a clean work surface lay out one sheet of dough, immediately recovering the pile of unworked dough.
11

Using a pastry brush, lightly cover dough with clarified butter.
12

Repeat process (phyllo and butter) two more times, stacking sheets of phyllo neatly as you go.
13

It is imperative you cover the dough that you arent working with, or it will dry out.
14

Cut stack of lightly buttered pastry into three equal strips (lengthwise) and place 1 tablespoon of filling at bottom of each strip.
15

Fold the strip as you would for a flag, trimming the ends as necessary.
16

Use a light hand, as folding too tight causes the pastry to burst during baking.
17

Brush top with butter and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar.
18

Continue until pastry and filling used up.
19

Bake the entire batch for 20 minutes.
20

Traditionally, the tops of these have an egg wash and are sprinkled with sesame seeds.
21

Your call.
22

I have successfully used ground beef, ground venison, and ground elk in place of the lamb.
23

Just be sure to drain off the excess grease if you are using beef.
24

You can make the filling several days in advance.
25

You can make the boreks and freeze before baking (add extra time to baking) or you can very successfully freeze them after they are baked.
26

They are well worth the effort!