Lamb Borek

Get your hands on the right ingredients, including about 12 good sheets of phyllo pastry, and you'll find this savory, lamb-filled pastry way easier to make than it appears--not to mention delicious--all thanks to an intentionally soggy dough. That's right! Lightly moisturizing the phyllo with an egg/yogurt/butter wash produces flexible, flavorful, and externally crisp layers upon baking.

• Preparation Time: 45 mins
• Cooking Time: 1 hr 5 mins
• Total Time: 1 hr 50 mins
• Calories: 449 Calories

Ingredients

• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ¼ cup water
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 2 tablespoons water
• 1 large egg
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted
• salt to taste
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1 large onion, diced
• 1 ½ cups tomato sauce
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 2 pounds ground lamb
• ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 pinch cayenne pepper, or to taste
• 3 tablespoons toasted pine nuts
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1 teaspoon water, or as needed
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice, or to taste
• 4 cloves garlic, minced (Optional)
• ½ cup plain Greek yogurt
• ¼ teaspoon allspice
• 1 clove garlic, crushed (Optional)
• 2 tablespoons currants
• 3 tablespoons full-fat plain Greek yogurt
• 12 sheets frozen phyllo dough, thawed, or as needed
• 2 teaspoons sesame seeds (Optional)
• 2 tablespoons very finely sliced mint leaves

Recipe Instructions

Step 1

Heat olive oil in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onion, salt, and lamb. Break up lamb into small crumbles. Cook, stirring occasionally, until most of the liquid evaporates, about 8 minutes. Toss in garlic, currants, pine nuts, cumin, coriander, cinnamon, paprika, black pepper, cayenne, and allspice. Cook and stir for 1 minute.

Step 2

Pour tomato sauce into the lamb mixture. Add water, stir, and reduce heat to medium. Cook until lamb mixture dries up and you can stir it without seeing liquid on the bottom of the pan, 20 to 30 minutes. Turn off heat and let cool completely before using.

Step 3

In the meantime, combine egg, yogurt, water, and butter in a bowl. Whisk together thoroughly.

Step 4

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Butter a round baking pan or sheet pan.

Step 5

Place 2 sheets of phyllo on your work surface. Keep remaining sheets covered with a damp towel. Sprinkle some egg wash lightly on top and spread using a pastry brush. Layer on 2 more sheets, one at a time, brushing some more egg wash over each.

Step 6

Line 1/3 of the lamb filling along one wide edge of the phyllo. Roll pastry up starting from the filling side and place it against the edge of the pan. Brush more egg wash on top.

Step 7

Shape and fill 2 more rolls with remaining phyllo, most of the egg wash, and filling. Wrap rolls along and inside the first one, filling the pan, and brush with egg wash. Sprinkle sesame seeds on top.

Step 8

Bake in the preheated oven until browned and crisp, 35 to 40 minutes. Let cool for 15 minutes.

Step 9

Combine yogurt, mint, lemon juice, and garlic for the yogurt sauce. Mix in enough water to achieve desired consistency for dipping. Season with salt and cayenne. Cut borek into wedges and serve with yogurt sauce.