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Moroccan Lamb Cigars

cook:

1 h 0 min

0.0

(6)

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!

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Picture for Moroccan Lamb Cigars

US

original

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Ingredients

For the filo sheets:

300 gr water

200 gr flour

10 gr salt

For the filling:

250 gr ground lamb

2 onions, finely chopped

4 tbsp pistachios, chopped

½ cilantro bunch, finely chopped

½ mint bunch, finely chopped

1 tbsp olive oil

1 tsp baharat spice

1 tsp turmeric

1 tsp harissa

Salt

Black pepper

For frying

Canola/olive oil

For serving

Tahini

Lemon wedges

Chopped parsley

Directions

Step 1

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.

300 gr water

200 gr flour

10 gr salt

Step 2

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.

1 tbsp olive oil

2 onions, finely chopped

1 tsp baharat spice

1 tsp turmeric

Step 3

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 min, and then remove from the heat to a bowl.

250 gr ground lamb

Step 4

Add to the bowl the chopped pistachios, cilantro, mint, harissa, salt, black pepper and mix all together until combined.

4 tbsp pistachios, chopped

½ cilantro bunch, finely chopped

½ mint bunch, finely chopped

1 tsp harissa

Salt

Black pepper

Step 5

Transfer the filling mixture to a piping bag.

Step 6

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.

Step 7

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.

Step 8

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.

Step 9

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!

Canola/olive oil

Step 10

Eat with tahini, squeeze lemon on top, and add chopped parsley.

Tahini

Lemon wedges

Chopped parsley

Step 11

YASSS!

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