Meat Stuffed Turnovers (Burekas)

These turnovers, known in the Middle East as burekas, are a perennial favorite and are crispy and delicious. They are best eaten hot out of the oven, but I have prepared them in advance and heated them on a hot plate with great success. The trick is to cover them lightly with a paper towel when reheating (if on a hot plate) and not to seal them with aluminum foil which will cause them to steam and get soggy, ruining them. They can be warmed up in a hot oven for 4-5 minutes and are nice and crispy that way as well. What’s great about this is they can be made in advance and reheated. But still, fresh is best.

In my baking course with Galia, we actually learned how to make puff pastry from scratch, but she herself said, if you aren’t making it dairy with butter, it’s not worth the effort, simply buy a good quality brand. So I do, one time saving step. There is a big difference between brand X and a name brand, the quality of the turnover suffers if it’s not a good one, be warned. Onward.

I defrost my puff pastry overnight in the fridge, this way it’s malleable and you can get right to work with it. Leave it in the fridge till you are ready to stuff them.

So, start with your meat filling. Take your peeled, chopped onion and fry till light brown in the oil. Then add the chopped meat and fry right on the onion, stirring and using the edge of your spoon to crumble the meat. I had some minced chicken to use up so that’s the white bits in there. You want smallish bits like so:

Toss in the spices to the frying mixture as you cut and stir. This is the cumin, turmeric, cinnamon (don’t skip this, it adds great flavor), crushed garlic and parsley. I don’t fry the garlic with the onion since I don’t want it too pronounced. The fragrance wafts up into the kitchen. You might have to taste test it. 🙂 .

Move off the flame to cool and add your chopped black olives right into the meat mixture. Do not add the olives to the mixture while frying or it gets too salty.

Preheat your oven to 400 F.

Now take your puff pastry out of the fridge. You may need to roll out a drop with a rolling pin on the edges if it’s too thick. And then cut into two rows of squares. Take a heaping tablespoon of filling and place in the center of each square.

You are going to take the top point of each square and fold over the filling to make a triangle, like so.

Press the edges of the turnover with the tines of a fork to seal the edges and make it look lovely at the same time. If you have trouble making them stick together (shouldn’t happen with good puff pastry, but just in case) wet the edges with a bit of water to help it stick shut. Place the turnovers on a parchment lined baking sheet and brush with beaten egg. Sprinkle with sesame and/or nigella seeds.

Bake in a hot oven for 22-25 minutes or until browned and crispy.

Beware beware, these are frighteningly addictive and people will wander into your kitchen and snatch some while you’re not looking. Great as a snack but can be served as a first course or a main, depending on your generosity and fabulous with a hefty dollop of techina on the side. My darling eggplant with lucious tehina dressing the techina dressing is in that post. Bet ya can’t eat just one…

Meat Stuffed Turnovers (Burekas)

3/4 kilo, a bit more than 1 1/2 pounds chopped meat
1 large onion peeled and chopped
1-2 tablespoons oil
1/2 teaspoon Cinnamon
1/2 -1 teaspoon turmeric
1/2 -1 teaspoon cumin
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
2 teaspoons chopped garlic

1/2 cup black olives, rinsed, drained and chopped

1 kilo package puff pastry (35 ounces), defrosted overnight in your fridge. Keep in fridge till ready to stuff.
1 egg, beaten for brushing top of pastry
sesame and/or nigella seeds for sprinkling on top

Directions:

Sautée onion in oil in frying pan till light brown. Add chopped meat to frying pan and break it up with the edge of a spoon stirring till meat is no longer pink and add the spices and garlic as you do so. Let cool off the burner. Add the chopped black olives when cooled and stir right into mixture in the pan.

Preheat oven to 400 F.

Unroll puff pastry and cut into squares. You can make small squares for little appetizers or bigger ones for a heartier dish. Turn squares with point facing you like a diamond shape and scooping a tablespoonful of filling placed in center of square. Fold in half into triangle and using a fork, crimp edges all around to seal. If it doesn’t stick properly (although it should) dab a little water around the edges. Brush top of sealed turnover with beaten egg. Sprinkle with sesame seeds or nigella seeds or a combo of both (which is what I do). Bake 22-25 minutes or till nicely browned and crispy. Serve with tahini on the side.