I love traditional Middle Eastern meat pies, sfeeha. So when I stumbled upon a similar Turkish meat pie, I needed to have it. 

Ingredients: 

Dough: 
3 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 cups warm water
1 teaspoon yeast
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar

Meat: 
1 lb ground beef
1 large onion, finely chopped
1 tablespoon pomegranate molasses
1 1/2 – 2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon pepper

Other Ingredients: 
1/2 cup olive oil
1 stick butter, melted
Pine nuts, optional

Step 1: In your kitchen stand mixer or in a large bowl, combine the warm water, yeast and sugar and allow to sit until the yeast begins to bubble.

Step 2: Combine the flour and salt and then slowly add this mixture to the wet ingredients. Turn on your mixer or knead the dough until it is all well combined. The dough will be sticky, but it will still be manageable. If you feel like your know is too dry add water, if it’s too wet, add flour and keep kneading.

Step 3: Remove the dough from the mixing bowl and begin kneading it on a lightly floured surface until you have a smooth and well combined ball of dough. Transfer the dough to a clean, lightly floured bowl, cover with saran wrap, and then let it sit in a warm place for 1 1/2 – 2 hours.

Step 4: As your dough is resting, place the ground beef into a bowl and then begin chopping up the onions. Once their ready, sprinkle 1 of the teaspoons of salt onto the onions and stir and give them a couple of good squeezes to remove as much water as you can from them. Then transfer the onions to the meat. Add the pomegranate molasses, the tomato paste, pepper, and remaining salt. Then begin to stir together all the ingredients. I personally just use my hands to make sure everything is well combined.

Step 5: Preheat the oven to 400°F. Combine the olive oil and melted butter into a bowl. You will be using this for your dough, so keep it nearby. When the dough has completed resting, begin to create clementine-sized balls. Now it’s time to flatten out and create the spirals with the dough. First dip your hands into the oil-butter mix and then begin flattening each ball out one by one…you will need to flatten and stretch it out until it’s almost paper thin. Don’t worry about the holes. Then pick up the stretched out dough and and spin it until you’ve formed the spiral. Then transfer each one into your baking tray. For a clear visual of how to flatten out and then create a spiral with the dough, refer to this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-mPAEKEmfFI

Step 6: Once all the dough has been spiraled and placed into the tray, grab about a golf-ball size of meat and then flatten it on the top of each bit of dough. You can also refer to the video above for reference on how to do this.

Step 7: Place into the oven and bake for about 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.

Sahtain!