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Fatia — Sfeeha with Lamb

Ground lamb, onions, laban & pine nuts baked in a homemade dough — also called Fatia

Section
Syrian-Lebanese
Yield
~40 pieces
Oven
450°F

Ingredients

Dough

  • 5 lb all purpose unbleached flour
  • 2 pkts dry active yeast
  • 1½ qts milk
  • 1½ sticks butter
  • 1–2 cups water
  • 1 cup oil
  • 1½ T sugar
  • 2 T salt

Meat Filling

  • 6 lb ground lamb, coarsely ground
  • 3 large onions, grated (squeeze juice out)
  • 1 qt laban (plain yogurt)
  • Salt, pepper, allspice, cinnamon — to taste
  • ½ lb pine nuts

Directions

  1. Over medium heat, warm milk. Add butter and melt. Add sugar, oil and water — keep at warm temperature.
  2. Mix salt into flour. Dissolve yeast and add to flour with the milk mixture. Knead until dough is firmer than moist dough.
  3. Soften 1 stick of butter. After dough rises (1½ hours), knead in butter. Let rise another 1½ hours.
  4. For the meat filling: combine all filling ingredients. Mix well. Make meat into small balls and place on paper towels.
  5. Roll dough thin. Place a meat ball in the center, flatten, then fold sides up.
  6. Put butter on top of each piece. Coat pan with rendered butter.
  7. Bake on lower rack at 450° until bottoms are brown. Move to top rack until golden on top.
  8. THEN EAT!!
Note: This is a true labor of love. The dough must be worked carefully — not too thick, not too thin. The laban in the meat mixture keeps the filling moist and gives it the classic tang.