Syrian Cheese Sambusak

Monday, April 15, 2013
Anything Syrian reminds me of my Grandma. To this day, I have never met someone who loved food so much (including me!) and every time I have a Syrian delicacy the nostalgia kicks in and I'm reminded of the smells and sounds of her kitchen.

Whenever I cook Syrian food myself, I feel like she'd be proud of me, spending hours and hours at my kitchen table constructing goodness filled pastries.

Sambusak was actually something I figured out on my own; most things my Grandma made had some kind of meat in them. The recipe is adapted from one of my favorite books (let alone cookbooks!) of all time, Aromas Of Aleppo by Poopa Dweck. When I discovered this book, I was in heaven. It has the recipe for every Syrian food you can think of and I can imagine my grandmother and the author's grandmother sitting together making sambusak while gossiping about all the handsome men of Aleppo. This probably didn't happen but a girl can dream!


YOU WILL NEED:

FOR THE DOUGH:
2 CUPS ALL PURPOSE FLOUR
1 CUP BUTTER
1 CUP SEMOLINA
SALT

FOR THE FILLING:
500G GRATED CHEESE
2 EGGS BEATEN
2 TABLESPOONS SESAME SEEDS

EXTRA 1/4 CUP SESAME SEEDS

Beat the butter in a large mixing bowl.

Mix in the flour, semolina and a pinch of salt.


Mix until there are no lumps and you have formed a dough. Cover and set aside.
To make the filling, combine the cheese, eggs, sesame seeds and a teaspoon of ground black pepper.

Pre-heat the oven to 175 Degrees C or 350 F. Form the dough in to balls with your hands (approximately the size of a ping pong ball).
Pour the extra sesame seeds onto a side plate and dip one side of a ball into the seeds. 

Flatten the dough (sesame seed side down) into a circle with your hands. Place a teaspoon of the filling in the centre of the dough. 
Fold over one side of the dough onto the other and push the ends closed. 
Pinch the corner of the sambusak and fold it onto its self. Continue to do so, incorporating a bit of dough from the last pinch in each fold. 
Bake for 15-20 minutes or until golden. 
Enjoy!

<3 Emanuelle