Libyan Home-made Pasta: Megata/Rishdet Burma مقطع/رشدة برمة

Megata (literally: chopped) is also known as Rishdet Burma in Tripoli - Burma means pot and this is to distinguish it from Rishdet Kaskas, another kind of fresh pasta steamed in a couscous pot. Megata is a Libyan dish of fresh home-made pasta cooked in a tomato-based sauce, often made  with gideed (dried meat). Depending on the region, the dish can include different kinds of additions. In the west Megatat is made with  beans, lentils, fava beans, chickpeas and fenugreek. The eastern method is with coriander, basil and fresh mint. A lighter version of Megata is cooked in milk or buttermilk instead of a tomato-based sauce. There is another variation (which is good for colds) where the pasta itself is made with a mix of thyme and flour, and served in a thyme and olive oil sauce.

Ingredients (serves 6-8)

Dough

6 cups of flour

3 cups of water

1 tsp salt

Sauce 

2 handfuls chopped Gideed (or 500 g cubed fresh beef or lamb)

1/2 cup of oil

1 finely chopped onion

2 finely chopped tomatoes
3 tablespoons tomato paste

3 finely chopped cloves of garlic

1/2 cup lentils

1/2 cup of pre-soaked chickpeas
1/2 cup of dry fava beans

1/2 cup of fresh fava beans
2 fresh hot chillies (optional)

Spices

1 tablespoons fenugreek
1 teaspoon red pepper

2 teaspoons tumeric

1 teaspoon black pepper

Salt to taste (remember that the gideed is salty!)

 

Pour the flour in a deep bowl, add the salt, make a hollow in the center and add the water gradually, until the dough is firm. The dough is meant to be hard. Cover and leave to rest while you make the sauce.

 Stir the gideed in a little oil.

Add the tomato paste, chopped tomato and onion and the spices. Stir on medium heat for a few minutes.

Add the pulses and chickpeas.

 Add the garlic and chillies, then about 1 liter of water to the pot and cover and leave the sauce on medium low heat for around half an hour. Meanwhile return to the dough!

Once the dough has rested, form into a 'loaf' and cut into 'slices'.

Powder each side of each 'slice' with plenty of flour.

If you have a pasta machine, put each piece of dough through the lasagna roller and layer the resulting lengths on top of each other, with a (very generous) dusting of flour in between to prevent sticking.

Cut each length into half and thin out again by putting through the machine for a second time.

The third time, put the dough through the tagliatelle cutter.

If you don't have a pasta machine, use a rolling pin to thin out each piece, then begin chopping from one end into noodles/tagliatelle. I've demonstrated using only one layer, but you should stack four layers with plenty of flour in between then begin chopping.

Add about 1 liter of water to the sauce pot. Bring to boil. Throw the pasta in the pot, a bunch at a time rather than all at once and stir gently. Let it cook for around 20 minutes.

Serve warm with wholemeal bread and lemon wedges.

Children's Smiley Face Asida عصيدة للاطفال

This is a variation of asida for children, with a smiley face. Asida is a popular traditional dish served in Libya during celebrations such as births or Eid. It is made of wheat flour or whole-meal flour dough cooked in water, and is eaten with honey or date syrup and melted butter. Some people use olive oil or samn (ghee) instead of butter. Asida is usually eaten for breakfast, as a form of porridge. While most children love asida in any form, this makes it a lot more fun for the younger ones, who can help you with creating and decorating the smiley face. For the ingredients and steps to make the asida, see this link.

Put a small amount  of asida dough in a small bowl and press it down with the back of a spoon to form a smooth dome as above, then turn it upside down on a flat plat.

Use a circular object to make two deep hollows for the "eyes."

Use a spoon to form a curved line for the "smile". 

Pour honey or date syrup into the eyes. You could also sprinkle sugar in the "smile." Pour melted butter around the asida. Serve immediately with a glass of cold milk.

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.

Arabic Savoury Pastries: Bureek Muwaraq بوريك مورق

This post is a reply to a request by Umm Obaidah for a bureek dough with a meat filling recipe. We hope you enjoy this recipe, let us know how it goes!

Börek in Turkey and the Balkans is a specific name for pastries made with  yufka dough. However in Libya Bureek is used interchangably with the Arabic word Fatayir as the generic term for savory pastries.

Any type of dough can be used to make Fatayir/Bureek, including ready made phyllo, spring-rolls or puff-pastry. Savoury pastry fillings include herbs, cheese, vegetables or meat; and the pastries are fried or baked.

Our Bureek recipe starts from scratch, creating thin layers from an unleavened dough. This dough recipe is relatively easy and incredibly versatile, so it has become a staple in the Libyan kitchen. As in puff pastry, the layers of flaky dough are created by repeatedly folding over the dough and rolling it out, but rather than being spread with solid fat, the dough here is rolled with starch and then soaked in oil. This dough only absorbs a little of this oil, so it is a healthy alternative to real puff-pastry. When made right, the bureek is light, with a fine flaky texture.

Makes about 20 pastries
Ingredients

The dough:
3 cups white flour
1 cup water
3 tbspoon melted butter/ghee
1 heaped teaspoon baking powder
1 heaped teaspoon salt

Veg. oil to cover the rolls of dough
1 beaten egg for brushing
Starch (usually cornfour)

Filling Suggestions:

White cheese and dried mint
200g white salty cheese (e.g feta) cut into small cubes
2 tablespoons ground dried mint

Spinach and onion filling:
400g fresh spinach (or Chard) washed, well drained and chopped
2 medium size onions, cuts into thin wings
2 tablespoons butter
salt and pepper to taste
1 teaspoon freshly grated whole nutmeg (optional)

Mince meat filling:
200g lamb/veal mince meat
1 large finely chopped onion
1 tablespoon mixed spices
Salt and paper to taste

9

Prepare the dough by combining all the dry ingredients. Mix and then add the liquid ingredients. Mix and knead until smooth, and cover with cling film. Leave to rest, while you prepare the filling

Filling Suggestions:

These fillings should be moist but without excess liquid. The amount mentioned above should be reduced appropriately if you want to use more than one of these fillings. 

 For the white cheese filling, just cut the cheese into small cubes and then mix it with the dried mint 

Prepare the spinach filling by melting the butter in a thick base pan. Add the onion wings and cook until soft. Add spinach, stir and cook on medium heat  for a few minutes, then add salt and pepper  to taste and nutmeg if using.

For the meat filling, melt the butter in a thick base pan and add the mince meat. Cook on medium heat, stir until the liquid has evaporated, then add the chopped onions and the spices. Mix well, cover and cook on low heat for about 15 minutes.

Burek Dough: 

Divide the dough into 2 pieces, work with one and leave the other covered with the cling film. 

 Sprinkle the work surface with starch. Roll each piece into a rectangle about 20 cm  x 40 cm, then sprinkle generously with starch 

Roll the dough as in the picture above.

Cut the roll into small pieces about 2 cm width. Repeat the last three steps the same with the second half of the dough. 

Arrange the small rolls in a deep plate and cover with vegetable oil. Leave the rolls soaked in oil for at least one hour. After you have used up all the rolls pass the oil through a sieve then use as usual.

Remove one roll from the oil and place it on the work surface in this position , press the top with palm of your hand  to flatten it gently.

Now roll out with a rolling pin, until you have a thin strip about 40 cm long. 

Put one tablespoon of the filling at one end and fold the dough above the filling to make a triangle shape. Hold the filling with the dough and fold from one side to another to form a triangle as below.

 Cut the excess dough. 

Do the same for the other rolls, the triangle must be neat and with no filling leaking out. 

Arrange the triangles in the tray, brush with beaten egg and bake at 220 C degrees until golden.

When cut in half you can see the separate thin flaky layers of the pastry.

Serve warm in a flat plate.