My Lebanese mother-in-law, one of the best cooks I know, inspired me to create this flavorful Lebanese meat pie. I use puff pastry in place of her homemade dough to save time. These tiny pies taste delicious as a side dish or as an appetizer.
| Prep Time: | 20 mins |
| Cook Time: | 15 mins |
| Additional Time: | 45 mins |
| Total Time: | 1 hr 20 mins |
| Servings: | 18 |
| Yield: | 36 small pies |
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground beef
- ½ pound ground lamb
- 1 white onion, finely chopped
- ¾ cup pine nuts
- ⅛ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- salt and ground black pepper to taste
- ⅓ cup lemon juice
- 2 (17.3 ounce) packages frozen puff pastry, thawed
- 1 egg, beaten
Instructions
- Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Stir in ground beef, ground lamb, onion, pine nuts, cinnamon, and salt and black pepper. Cook and stir until meat is crumbly, evenly browned, and no longer pink. Drain and discard any excess grease.
- Stir in lemon juice. Taste and adjust the seasonings. Let the meat mixture cool.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a baking sheet or line it with parchment paper.
- Roll out thawed pastry sheets to about 1/8 inch thick. Using a sharp 3-inch round cookie cutter, cut out at least 9 rounds per sheet. Lightly brush the inside edges with a little water, and place about 2 teaspoons of filling into the middle of each round. Fold the pastry round in half to cover the filling and seal the edges well. Transfer to the prepared baking sheet and repeat with the remaining dough circles.
- Brush each pie with a little egg wash. Bake in the preheated oven until golden brown, 15 to 20 minutes.
- For following halal rules, look for puff pastry dough that isn’t made with lard.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 412 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 26 g |
| Cholesterol | 34 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 1 g |
| Protein | 13 g |
| Saturated Fat | 8 g |
| Sodium | 162 mg |
| Sugars | 1 g |
| Fat | 29 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
Great little pies! My granddaughter calls them Sweeny Todd pies! She just read the book. They came out beautiful too I use Grands ? biscuit dough and the work out fine. They may look a bit brown , I think its the egg wash. Great with coffee
so simple to make. I didn’t cut the puff pastry into rounds. I just cut them into squares and folded over to make triangular shaped. This worked just as well and saved time having to roll out and cut. also was not left with any scraps. I didn’t use pine nuts because they are so expensive, so used ground almond instead. I did bump up the spice a little bit and added some allspice also. These present well, and go over very quickly with great reviews from all. thanks for the easy recipe.
It was great and well received at our party . Just added some cavenders’s Greek spice and a lil garlic to meat…. perfect! Thanks so much for sharing this great recipe
I followed the recipe exactly and would definitely make again.
This recipe was so easy and tasted great! I will definitely make it again!
We really love this. I’ve had to start using gluten free puff pastry, but that’s fine. It’s still tasty.
used mostly lamb meat cause that’s how the package was sold, used Sazon instead of pepper & salt. Couldn’t use the cinnamon cause of food allergy but mostly it tasted very good. Ingredients were extremely expensive-$15.
delicious!!! Will make again!! Follow the recipe exactly!! Just need to learn to roll better next time!!
Growing up Lebanese/Syrian….the only thing that will work for me is pita bread
these are better than the ones you get in louisana love the pastry serve these with canjun beans you have a meal ,really good on a cold day
I made it just as in the recipe, oh except for pine nuts – I’m allergic. My wife loves meat pies, she loved this but suggested I add some spice, like curry powder.
This was pretty good. I’m used to having these in regular bread dough and in a the shape of a wrapped burger but this was a nice quick alternate. I didn’t put in the pine nuts and used about one larger lemon. We always dip in ketchup while eating them and call these Fatires. Hubby and I liked but kids weren’t a fan although they really enjoyed helping make them 🙂
Sfeeha are my favorite meat pies. In Cleveland, OH, there was a restaurant called “The Middle East,” their recipe was slightly different. At The Middle East the meat pies had a bread dough pastry much like Jiddo’s Fatayer Sabanegh (Spinach Triangles) and the flakey crust was reserved for the stuffed spinach pastries. I feel this is more suitable for something with a meat filling. If you do not get the pastry dough follow Jiddo’s Fatayer Sabanegh (Spinach Triangles) dough recipe. I also reverse the ratio of meat. I prefer a pound of lamb and a half a pound of beef.
Amazing! I can’t stop eating them!
making it tonight for dinner my dad’s mom use to make them all the time, I LOVE THEM, but im omitting the pine nuts and lamb but going to use spinach/meat in some. I’ll post pic later 😀 hope the kids love them, lol kathy
I followed the directions and thought they were just okay.
Yummy little packages bursting with flavor! The combination of lamb and beef brought a really nice depth of flavor to the dish. I went a little heavier on the lamb since my meat from my CSA was already weighed out at 1lb. I made the pies with phyllo dough since that’s what I had on hand, and just doubled the layers to get a sturdier outside. I served with Leshta (http://allrecipes.com/personalrecipe/63425078/leshta-bulgarian-lentil-soup/detail.aspx) and yogurt on the side. My husband loved the dish and we will definitely be making these again.
Very good snack and/or appetizer.
Always a hit in our house.
This was a huge hit at our family gathering. Unfortunately some ate too much & didn’t save enough room for dinner! The only things I changed were I used a little less lemon juice, more cinnamon, and added a little sugar and coriander to taste. They were so flavorful, they didn’t last long!
Thank you so much for sharing this recipe!! The meat tasted exactly like the meat from my favorite Lebanese bakery. I could only find ground lamb frozen in 1lb package, so I used the full pound with 1 pound of ground beef. I added a little bit of garlic and some ground allspice. I had to substitute lime juice for lemon, but it didn’t seem to matter. My pastry work needs some practice, but I can’t wait to make these again!