1 hr 0 min
1 hr 0 min
0 from 0 reviews
Making filo dough from scratch can sound intimidating, but the truth is—it’s super easy, takes just a matter of minutes, and is so versatile. One of my deepest food memories from childhood is eating pastels at celebrations. We refer to “pastel” as any deep-fried stuffed filo dough treat. One of my absolute favorites was always Moroccan lamb cigars. The filling is made with ground lamb, spices, caramelized onions, herbs, and pistachios. I added my homemade harissa to give it a spicy kick. Deep-frying them twice or three times will give you a phenomenal crunch that you won’t be able to resist. Serve with tahini, a squeeze of lemon, and chopped parsley to round off every single bite to perfection!
Starting with the filo sheets- In a bowl add the water, salt, and flour and mix well until you get a consistency of a very diluted tahini/pancake batter. Cover with a towel and let it sit for 30 min.
In the meantime, let’s work on the filling: in a pan, on medium high heat, add olive oil, the chopped onions and the spices. Cook for 5 min, stirring constantly.
Make space in the middle of the pan and add the ground lamb. Using 2 spatulas, break the meat down to small pieces. Cook for 5 minutes, and then remove from the heat to a bowl.
Add to the bowl the chopped pistachios, cilantro, mint, harissa, salt, black pepper, and mix all together until combined.
Transfer the filling mixture to a piping bag.
Moving back to the filo sheets- Heat up a pan on medium heat for about 3-4 min. Brush the pan with the batter, 5 layers to be exact.
After the top of the filo sheet gets dry, use a spatula to remove it from the pan. Place on a plate and layer all the filo sheets on top of each other until you finish all the batter.
Shaping the cigars- place the filo sheet on your cutting board, pipe a line of filling, fold the sides towards the center, and roll to a tight cigar. To make sure the cigar is sealed, simply wet the end before rolling it completely, and place the rolled cigar seam side down.
In a big pot, add oil for frying and heat up. Fry the cigars, 2-3 at a time, for 3 min. Take them out of the oil and repeat with the rest of the cigars. Before serving, fry them again (second time) until dark golden!
Eat with tahini, squeeze lemon on top, and add chopped parsley.
YASSS!
write your comment