While I usually combine filo dough with different vegetarian fillings, this time I opted for a meat one. My original plan was to use lamb, but when I saw bison meat at the store, I decided to make a switch.
Bison meat is very flavorful and quite lean, and it worked well for this dish. The few ingredients I’ve used to season the meat (onions, scallions, golden raisins and pine nuts), complemented it perfectly and created a tasty and aromatic filling for the crispy pastries. I also brushed the dough sheets with a mixture of olive oil and tahini paste, that added a nutty flavor and aroma to the pastries. Served with fresh salad and green tahini dressing, the pastries made a tasty entree. Try them and enjoy.
Notes:
* If using frozen dough, make sure to defrost it slowly in the fridge overnight. This keeps the sheets flexible.
* Filo dough comes in different thicknesses, which are marked by numbers. Here I’ve used #4, which stands for thin delicate sheets. If you’re still new to using filo, you may prefer using thicker dough (#7).
* If you can’t find bison meat, lamb, beef or chicken thighs can be used instead.
* Other types of oil, or clarified butter, can be used instead of olive oil.
Makes: 10-12
Prep time: 30 minutes
Baking time: 15 minutes
Ingredients:
For the filling:
1 Tbs light olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
6-7 scallions, chopped
2 tsp salt
½ tsp freshly ground four peppers mix
Dash cinnamon
1 lbs (454 grams) fresh ground Bison meat (I used Open Nature’s strip loin steak)
1 tsp crumbled thyme leaves
1/3 cup golden raisins
¼ cup pine nuts
For the filo:
½ cup light olive oil
2 Tbs tahini paste
½ package (½ lbs/227 grams) Filo dough #4 (see notes)
For serving (optional):
Green Tahini dressing from THIS post
Fresh greens
1. Mix the oil, onion, scallions, 1 tsp salt, pepper and cinnamon in a large pan. Sauté over medium-high heat, mixing occasionally, until the onion softens and starts to brown. Add the meat and another tsp of salt. Cook, mixing to break it down, until it changes color and the liquids evaporate. Add the thyme, raisins and pine nuts and mix. Taste and adjust seasoning if needed. Let cool to room temperature.
2. Preheat the oven to 350F (175C). Line a baking sheet pan with baking paper. Mix the oil with tahini paste.
3. Cut the dough in half, into rectangles about 6.3” (16 cm) X 9” (23 cm). Place one dough sheet over lightly oiled work surface and brush it with the oil-tahini mixture. Repeat with two more layers.
4. Place about a ¼ cup of the filling on the dough, as shown in the photo. Fold the dough over the filling towards the center, then from two sides towards the center. Finish with rolling, to create a “parcel”. Place on the prepared baking sheet. Repeat with the rest of the dough and filling. Brush the tops with the oil mixture before baking.
5. Bake for 15 minutes, until the pastries are golden brown. Serve warm.
Reblogged this on All About Writing and more.
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These sound and look amazing Ronit, I’ve never had bison meat, I don’t think I could get it if I tried here. Is it similar to Beef? How clever to brush tahini between the layers of pastry 👌
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Thank you Myra, I’m glad you liked the pastries. The tahini indeed added such nice flavor.
Bison has a pronounced “meaty” flavor, a sort of mix between venison and beef, if it makes any sense! I love using it rare for tartar, but this time wanted to try something new, and it worked very well. 🙂
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Yummy
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Thank you! 🙂
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My pleasure
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Mmmmmmm and with the green tahini dipping sauce? Sublime. I do like bison, but any chance to enjoy lamb, I grab it!
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Thank you Mimi, I’m glad you liked the dish. I too love lamb, but it can be quite heavy, especially on a hot summer day. 🙂
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You think so? I think the flavor of lamb is refreshing in a way. Maybe that’s not the right word…
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It’s always an option. 🙂
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What a lovely sheen and crispiness brought to the filo from the olive oil and probably an exceedingly subtle but fascinating flavor from the tahini. I made hummus yesterday, and there is still plenty of tahini left in the jar for other uses. Sadly, I finally threw away the package of filo that I had been hoarding for several YEARS in my freezer.
If I get another package, I simply MUST promise myself to use it, and this oil/tahini incentive may do the trick for me.
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Thank you Judi, I’m glad you liked the pastries. The tahini adds such nice flavor to the dough. Highly recommended.
I had to laugh when I read you kept the filo for that long. It’s good that you got rid of it, as I’m sure it would end up in shreds once defrosted. 🙂
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This sounds wonderful!
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Thank you Angela! 🙂
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Well bison meat simply is not an option Down Under but kangaroo methinks would do admirably ! Or emu which one may have to order on-line ! But lamb which we use far moiré often than beef also has its abreactions . . . Use tahini a lot naturally cooking as much Middle Eastern as I do, but this is a new way and I’ll be happy to try ! Am smiling about you feeling lamb is ‘heavy’ – we use it more often in our 90-105 F summers than in winter . . . geography and custom . . .
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My apologies about the odd spelling – I can but my so-called spellcheck often has other ideas 🙂 !
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I tried ostrich meat, which I liked, but still have to try kangaroo and emu. Lamb is quite heavy for me, and I tend to use it more in stews in the winter, but of course it can work well in this dish. The addition of tahini to the oil adds a nice nutty flavor to the pastries. Highly recommended!
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Kangaroo is now available in every supermarket in Australia: it is very healthy, lean, somewhat gamey . . . to me a superb flavour . . . and very cheap compared to beef and lamb. Available in steaks, fillets, cut-up for stirfries: our everyday form of eating, ready-made patties and the only sausages I’ll buy – far less fatty than most. I would use these a couple of times a week both for my and my pocketbook’s welfare 🙂 ! Oh, there are quite a few who turn up their noses, but oft these people do not eat liver, kidneys or delightful tripe either !!!
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Until I read this post, I hadn’t realized that filo dough comes in various thicknesses. I think that the store where I usually shop only sells one type of filo dough.
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Thank you Sheryl, I’m glad you’ve found this information interesting. I guess there’s a larger selection in areas were there are more people who use filo often. 🙂
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I doubt I can get bison, but the mix sounds great, and spreading tahini on filo sheets is such a great idea, Ronit!
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Thank you Dolly, I’m glad you liked the dish. Any other meat can be used instead of Bison. The addition of tahini to the dough adds such wonderful, nutty flavor. Highly recommended! 🙂
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I’ve figured, because I’ve never seen bison meet in kosher stores, although bison is a perfectly kosher animal. I can do turkey, I think, as it is not fatty, but I’d prefer lamb, when I can get it.
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As it’s becoming more popular, I think eventually a Kosher option will be there. If using turkey, for this recipe I would go with the dark meat rather than the breast.
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Thank you for this suggestion, Ronit.
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That really looks delicious.
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Thank you, it really was! 🙂
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Looks delicious – especially the crispy filo dough! I would have to opt for lamb… 🙂
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Thank you Judi, I’m glad you liked the pastries. Lamb would definitely work well here. 🙂
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Mmmm. Looks incredibly delish! 😍
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Thank you Gail, I’m glad you liked the pastries. They were indeed delicious. I plan on making them again soon, with a different type of meat. 🙂
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Wish I could be there to watch the technique. 👁👁🍃
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You’d be welcome! But it’s quite simple and I’m sure you can master it in no time. 🙂
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This looks delicious. You have inspired me to try this recipe with chicken or seafood too. Yum!
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Thank you, I’m glad you liked the dish. It’ll be interesting to see your version of it. 🙂
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That looks so good! And the very day after seeing this market near me has packages of sheets of pastry; they look like layers of very thin pastry, like you’d use for baklava or something like that. I told my daughter “oh great would that date paste nearby would be smeared between layers of that⁉️” Now that I see THIS recipe…I’m definitely going back for that pastry.
Does it sound like it would work for this?
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Thank you Dawn, I’m glad you liked the pastries. The dough you describe does sound like filo. However, if you want to keep the layers, you need to brush it with oil or clarified butter, as date paste alone will make it soggy.
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Oh! Okay. Thanks for that heads up! 😉🥰
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Good luck! 🙂
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👍I’ll let you know 🤔💕
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I bet this is really good. My husband likes bison.
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Thank you Joanne, I’m glad you liked the dish. Bison meat is so good! 🙂
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Spring rolls using filo! I’m inspired! 👍😋
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Thank you, I’m glad you’ve found the recipe inspiring. 🙂
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Looks good
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Thank you! 🙂
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