Braided Puff Pastry with Savory Fillings

The intricate look of this braided puff pastry makes it seem more complicated than it is. Flaky buttery puff pastry is always a great favorite, and the braiding is easily achieved by cutting diagonal strips in the pastry and criss-crossing them over your filling, savory or sweet works equally  well. In this recipe, we've included two suggested savory fillings, one with chicken and fresh herbs and the other with spinach and feta cheese.

Ingredients
Puff pastry sheets
1 beaten egg


Filling 1:
300g spinach
100g feta cheese 
1 medium onion
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp salt

Filling 2:
1 medium onion
1 chicken breast
1 cup grated cheese
3 tsp fresh or dried rosemary and/or thyme or parsley
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp salt
1 tsp seven spice mix

Slice onion into wings and saute in a bit of butter. Saute the spinach, then combine the two. Add the spices.

Cut the feta cheese in small cubes.

Cut the chicken into small cubes, saute with the onion. Add the spices.

Spread the pastry on a baking sheet.

Cut the sheet in half vertically, and then on each half trace lightly with the knife to create three equal strips. 

Leaving the center for the filling, cut finger-wide slightly diagonal strips on either side, leaving about two fingers at either end.

Spoon the chicken and onion in the center.

Sprinkle parsley or rosemary or thyme, and grated cheese on top.

On the second half of the sheet, spoon the spinach and feta cheese filling onto the middle and again cut the diagonal strips.

Fold over the two ends. Begin braiding the dough by folding over one strip at a time from alternating sides.

 Once you've brought the strip across, press it firmly into the dough on the other side. Brush with the beaten egg.

Place on a greased tray or baking sheet and put in the oven at 250 C until golden brown. 

Leave to cool before cutting into pieces about three fingers wide.

Nuts, Raisins and Shredded Coconut Pastry

This sweet and very easy to make pastry is filled with raisins, chopped nuts, and shredded coconuts, a mixture laced with orange blossom or rose water. The folded triangles are then baked to a crispy gold in the oven and then dipped in sugar syrup. They are crisp, crunchy and the perfect accompaniment to the essential post-iftaar cup of Arabic coffee.

 Ingredients 

Filling

1/2 cup walnuts, roughly chopped
1/2 cup roasted almonds, roughly chopped
1/2  cup sultanas and raisins
1/2 cup shredded coconut
2 tbsp orange blossom water/ rose water
1 tbsp cinnamon
1 tbsp sugar

Sugar Syrup 

2 cups sugar
2 cups water
1 tbspoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon rose or orange blossom water

Ready-made phyllo pastry (found at any Greek or Middle Eastern shop)
1/2 cup vegetable oil, mix with a couple tablespoons of melted butter

Place the sugar, water and lemon in a saucepan and simmer for about 20 minutes. Add the rose or orange blossom water at the end. Set aside. 

Mix the ingredients of the filling - you can add more cinnamon, raisin, coconut or add other nuts, according to taste.

 Cut the phyllo pastry into three finger wide strips. Keep them covered with a towel so they don't dry out. Brush with the oil and butter mixture onto each strip before you add the filling.

 Put a spoonful of filling in one of the strips.

 Fold the strip over the filling, folding towards the opposite corner as you go.

 Continue folding until the end of the strip, cut away any excess.

Place the triangles on a greased baking tray or baking sheet. Put in the oven at 250 C until crisp and golden brown.

Allow to cool before dipping in the warm syrup. They should be dipped in syrup just before eating. Place in cupcake liners. 

Serve with coffee and other Ramadan sweets, such as Qatayef,  Fritters or, as here, Knafa fingers. 

Tuna, Harissa and Olive Stuffed Bread: Khbeiza bil Tonn فطاير تونة و هريسة

This recipe was chosen as FoodBuzz Featured of the day on 11th October!

Khbeizat are individual stuffed breads often served with tea to afternoon guests. They also make great dinner rolls, turning a bowl of soup into a substantial meal.  The dough  is easy to make and is shaped into mini-loaves, mini-buns, ping-pong sized balls or as crescents as in this recipe. Typical stuffings include white cheese and dried mint, or cheese and olives. Tuna and harissa however is by far the most popular sandwich filling in Libya, so the combination is just made for a stuffed breads like Khbeiza.

Makes 32 pieces

Ingredients

25 grams fresh yeast / 2 tablespoon dry yeast

75 gram melted butter or margarine

1 1/2 cups milk

3 1/2 cups flour (210 grams)

1 tablespoon salt

Filling

400g tuna (2 cans), well drained

Harissa (homemade or commercial) to taste

1 cup olives (pitted and chopped)

Decoration

1 egg, beaten

Habet Baraka (Black cumin seeds/ Nigella seeds) or Sesame seed 

Crumble the yeast into a little warmed up milk and set aside, melt the butter and mix with the rest of the milk then leave to reach room temperature.

Place the flour and salt in your mixing bowl, add the milk and yeast mixture.

Pour in the butter and milk.

Knead to a dough with a soft and smooth consistency, cover and leave to rise (around half an hour).

Meanwhile drain the tuna, mash it with a fork and add harissa to taste.

 Pit and chop the olives and combine with the tuna and harissa.

Divide the dough into four equal balls

Roll each ball into a circle, then cut into 8 triangles.

Place a tablespoon of filling at the base of each triangle, rolling into a crescent shape as below.

Place the Khbeiza on a tray lined with baking paper, brush them with the beaten egg and sprinkle a pinch of Habet albaraka on each then leave to rest in a warm place for about 30 minutes.  

Bake in the middle of the oven at 225°C until golden, usually about 15 minutes

While Khbeizat are best served hot, this stuffed bread is also delicious at room temperature and more reminiscent of every Libyans favourite sandwich eaten that way.

Filo Pastry Meat Pie : Bureek Tajin (رقاق باللحم المفروم (قلاش

Bureek Tajin (also known as Suniyet Ruqaq in Egypt) is a  meat pie served as a side dish, and is a popular accompaniment to soup during Ramadan. Leftovers make a great snack or light meal the next day.

The pie  is  made of two layers of thin dough (each made up of several sheets of filo or Egyptian ruqaq) sandwiching minced meat. As there is no fiddly shaping and stuffing its an easy way to make a large amount of pastry.

Serves 8 as Side dish

Ingredients

 1 pack filo pastry 400g

100 g melted butter or 50g melted butter + 1 cup corn oil

Filling

500g minced meat

2 onions, finely chopped 

1/4 cup finely chopped parsley (optional)

1/2 a nutmeg, freshly grated
1 tablespoon mixed spices (hrarat)

salt and  pepper to taste

Glaze 

1 egg mixed with 1 cup milk, salt and peper

1 cup stock

Melt the butter and mix with oil

Grease a large oven proof dish about (30x40 cm) with butter.

Divide the filo pastry sheets into two equal piles, then wrap each in a towel. Cover the bottom of the dish with filo, trim and use a second sheet if necessary. Brush with a little melted butter then add another layer of filo, continue until you have used half the pastry.

Soften the onion in a little oil or butter, add the minced meat and the spices, cover until cooked. 

Spread the prepared filling evenly on top of the filo pastry, then cover with the remaining sheets ,brush with a little melted butter in between the layers .

Spread the last of the melted butter over the top layer, cut into large squares and place in the middle of the hot oven  about 220 °C.  

When the top layer has turned golden (about 10 minutes), remove from oven then spoon about 1 cup of stock over the cracks and the edges of the tray. 

Whisk the egg with the cup of milk, add salt and pepper to taste. Then spoon the egg mix over the  the whole tajin surface and around the edges. Return to the oven until all the liquid absorbed, about 20 minutes.

When cooked remove the Bureek Tajeen from the oven and leave to cool before cutting along the marks you have made.