Cheese Sambousek Recipes

CHEESE SAMBOUSEK

Steps:

• First make the dough:.
• Combine the flour, salt, baking powder, and sugar in a food processor fitted with the metal blade and process for 5 seconds.
• Add the butter and pulse 10 times, or until the mixture is the consistency of fine meal.
• With the machine running, add the water in a steady stream, taking about 10 seconds to do so.
• Process for 1 minute. The dough will gather into a ball and form a mass that whirls around the blade. Feel the dough. It should be smooth, soft, elastic, and no longer sticky.
• If necessary, adjust the texture with droplets of water or small amounts of flour, processing a few seconds after each addition. If you want to add seeds to the dough, knead them in by hand on your work surface.
• Divide the dough into 24 pieces and shape into balls (3/4 ounce each).
• Cover the balls of dough loosely with a kitchen towel and let stand for 30 minutes.
• Next, the filling:.
• Place the cheese, salt, cayenne, egg, and egg white in the work bowl of a food processor fitted with the metal blade and pulse very rapidly 20 to 30 times, until the mixture just begins to gather into a mass.
• Turn out onto a sheet of waxed paper or plastic wrap and pat into a 6 x 4-inch rectangle.
• Cut the cheese mixture into 1-inch squares.
• Adjust two oven racks to divide the oven into thirds and preheat the oven to 350°F
• Line two 14 x 17-inch baking sheets with silicone baking pan liners or cooking parchment.
• To shape the sambouseks, pat a ball of dough into a 4-inch circle on your unfloured work surface.
• Place a square of the cheese mixture slightly below the center of the circle and pat it into a semicircular shape, leaving a bottom border of dough a scant 1/2 inch wide.
• Fold the top half of the dough over the cheese and press the edges firmly to seal.
• Use a fingertip to crimp the edge of the dough back on itself, forming a fluted border.
• Place the sambousek on the prepared sheet.
• Repeat with the remaining dough and cheese, placing 12 sambouseks about 2 inches apart on each sheet.
• Paint the sambouseks with the egg wash.
• Bake 30 minutes, or until golden brown.
• Rotate the pans top to bottom and front to back once during baking to ensure even browning. Use a wide metal spatula to transfer the sambouseks to wire cooling racks, and serve warm or at room temperature.

CHEESE SAMBUSAK

Steps:

• First, make your pasty dough. Combine canola oil, melted butter, and salt in a mixing bowl. Mix in the hot (not boiling) water. Gradually stir in the flour, a ½ cupful at a time, till a soft and oily dough forms.When the dough becomes too thick to stir, use your hands to work the last bit of flour into the dough. Don't over-knead-stop when the ball holds together and the dough is smooth. Cover with plastic wrap and let it sit for a few minutes while you make your filling.
• Don't let the dough sit for longer than 30 minutes before rolling it out, or it will cool down and become more difficult to work with.In a food processor, combine feta and kashkaval cheeses, parsley, 2 eggs and black pepper in a food processor. Pulse ingredients till a light creamy paste forms. This is your sambusak filling.
• Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. While oven is heating, assemble your sambusak. There are a couple of ways to do this. The Half-Moon shape is more popular because it's easiest to do; the Triangle Shape is popular for Purim because it's reminiscent of Haman's hat.
• To Make Half Moon Shape: Flour your rolling surface. Pull a walnut-sized piece of dough from the dough ball; recover the dough ball with plastic. Roll the small piece of dough into a ball with your hands.
• Lightly flour your rolling pin. Roll the dough out into a rough circle that is between 4 ½ and 5 inches wide. The dough will be quite thin.
• Place 1 tbsp of filling in the center of the circle. Fold the circle in half over the filling. Seal the edges by pinching gently with your fingers to create a half-moon shape.
• Use a fork to score the edges of the sambusak-this will help seal them and also make them look pretty.Repeat process until all of the dough has been used. I find it's easiest to roll out five dough pieces at a time, stuff them and seal them, then roll out five more. This saves time and is more efficient them rolling, stuffing and sealing each individual piece.
• To Make Triangle Shape: Flour your rolling surface. Divide your dough into four equal-sized sections.Choose one section to work with, keep the other sections under plastic wrap till you're ready to use them.Lightly flour your rolling pin. Roll the dough out till it is very thin. You will want to cut a square with 8- to 10-inch sides from the dough, so keep this in mind as you roll it out; I sometimes use a ruler to help gauge the size.
• Once your dough is rolled out, cut a square with equal length sides from the dough. The square should be somewhere between 8 inches and 10 inches wide. Use a ruler or straight edge to cut the sides as straight as possible.Push extra dough trimmings into a small ball and store it under the plastic wrap separate from the rest of the dough.
• Cut the square into equal-sized quarters. Each of these quarters will be used to form a sambusak.Cut the square into equal-sized quarters. Each of these quarters will be used to form a sambusak.
• Place 1 tbsp of filling into the center of each square.
• Fold one corner of a square over to the diagonally opposite corner and pinch to seal the sides.
• Use a fork to score the edges of the sambusak-this will help seal them and also make them look pretty.
• Repeat process for remaining squares. Roll out remaining dough sections in the same way, using the ball of trimmings as a fifth and final section of dough.Once your sambusak have been assembled, they are ready to be cooked. You can either deep fry them or bake them. I prefer to bake them because of the more consistent results (plus it's healthier)-but frying is more traditional.
• To Bake Sambusak: Place sambusak on a lightly greased or parchment-lined cookie sheet.Beat the remaining egg with 1 tsp of cold water. Brush the sambusak with a thin layer of the egg wash. Sprinkle the sambusak with poppy seeds or sesame seeds, if desired. Bake sambusak at 350 degrees F for about 40-45 minutes until golden brown.
• To Fry Sambusak: Do not use egg wash or coat with seeds. Heat an oil with a high smoke point (like grapeseed) over medium until hot, but not smoking.Fry the sambusak in batches of four till golden, turning halfway through cooking.
• Drain on a paper towel before serving.Serve sambusak warm or at room temperature. They're best straight from the oven, but the baked ones also keep quite well, and can be reheated in the microwave if desired.

SAMBOUSEK (SPINACH, MEAT, CHEESE FILLINGS)

Steps:

• In a large bowl, mix together the flour, olive oil and salt. Create a well in the center of the flour mixture and pour in the water.
• Gradually fold the flour into the water while simultaneously rotating the bowl.
• Dough will be slightly sticky
• Knead the dough until pliable and no longer sticky
• Place in fridge for one hour allow dough to set.
• Lightly flour your work surface and roll out the dough into a 1/4" thick rectangle.
• Using a cookie cutter or even a large glass, cut out circles from the dough.
• Do not lift or remove the circles.
• Slowly lift the excess dough surrounding the circles and replace in the bowl to be rolled out again as a second batch.
• Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until needed
• Mix the filling ingredients. Take tablespoon of filling mixture and put on each circle. Take about a teaspoonful of mixture and place in the center of each circle
• Fold circles in half to create half-moons (semi-circles). Pinch the edges together with a fork or fingers to tightly seal
• Repeat same process with the remaining dough and filling
• Frying : Heat oil in a 6qt saucepan over medium-high heat (fill oil no more than half-way)
• Fry the Sambousek until golden brown, approximately 4 minutes, turning once.
• Remove with a slotted spoon and drain excess oil on paper towels
• Baking: Dip each piece in olive oil and put in sheet pan.
• Bake in 350 degree oven for 45 minutes till brown.
• Serve cold or warm.