This post is sponsored by the Certified Angus Beef® brand in conjunction with a social media campaign through Sunday Supper LLC. All opinions are my own. Enjoy this recipe for Savory Beef Hamantaschen made with Certified Angus Beef®.
Next month brings the Jewish festival of Purim, a carnival holiday where people are encouraged to dress in costume and make merry. Purim commemorates the deliverance of the Jewish people from an evil government minister, named Haman, who plotted to destroy the Jewish community in ancient Persia.
(Want to learn more about Purim and how we celebrate it? My friend Leigh Olson did a show on Purim on her delightful podcast As We Eat. You can listen to it here.)
Hamantaschen, a triangular filled cookie, is the signature food of Purim for Ashkenazi Jews. The cookie’s shape is said to come from the three-cornered hat that the villain Haman wore. As a cookie, hamantaschen have a bad reputation. All Jewish kids have been traumatized by eating a soggy, tasteless hamantaschen filled with unpleasant prunes or not-very-sweet poppy seeds. That is not what anyone is hoping for when biting into a cookie!
In previous years, I have tried to rehabilitate hamantaschen‘s reputation by filling them with sweet, homemade jam instead of poppy seeds. Indeed, my cookbook The Joys of Jewish Preserving includes a recipe for hamantaschen that would be a worthy vehicle for any of the book’s many jam recipes.
Last year, however, I went a step further and began experimenting with savory hamantaschen. I am certainly not the first person to think of making hamantaschen with a savory filling instead of sweet. And indeed, savory filled pastries have a long history in Jewish cuisine.
Last year, I filled my savory hamantaschen with Moroccan-inspired spiced lamb. This year, inspired by my work as a brand ambassador for Certified Angus Beef® brand, I have created a savory hamantaschen filled with ground beef. I used Certified Angus Beef® brand ground sirloin seasoned with classic Middle Eastern spices like dried mint, allspice, cinnamon and cloves. Indeed, this recipe is reminiscent of a Lebanese dish of spiced ground beef with pine nuts called hashweh, which was part of my inspiration.
The dough for my savory hamantaschen is the same as my Pumpkin Bishak. Even though this is a yeast-risen dough, do not be intimidated. This dough is very forgiving and you use the hour while the dough is rising to prepare the beef filling, so there is no wasted time.
While I created this recipe because Purim is coming up in a few weeks, there is no need to limit savory hamantaschen to once a year. Savory pastries like these are marvelous for entertaining and snacking all year round. This recipe makes around two dozen little pastries and they are perfect finger food: easy to eat, hand-held and not messy or drippy.
Imagine what a perfect hors d’oeuvres or cocktail party bite these beef-filled hamataschen would make. Plus, they even freeze well, so you can make them in advance. It is no wonder that savory pastries are a staple of mezze platters all over the Sephardic world.
To accompany these beef-filled savory hamantaschen, I make a yogurt sauce because I think savory pastries can be a bit dry without a dip or sauce. In the Middle East, yogurt is the all-purpose accompaniment to everything. I know for some – especially those who are familiar with the kosher laws – the combination of meat and dairy in a Jewish dish may be a little jarring. No worries! These beef hamantaschen would be delicious with a drizzle of tahini or even some tangy pomegranate molasses for a dairy-free option.
What are you serving for Purim this year?
Ingredients
- 2 tsp instant or active dry yeast
- 1 cup plus 2 TB warm water
- Pinch sugar
- 3 1/2 cups bread flour
- Pinch salt
- 1 TB extra virgin olive oil
- 1 egg
- 2 TB extra virgin olive oil
- 1 yellow onion, diced
- 1 lb. ground sirloin
- 2 tsp dried mint
- 1 tsp each allspice, cinnamon and paprika
- 1/2 tsp ground cloves
- Pinch cayenne
- 1/2 cup pine nuts
- 1/2 cup golden raisins
- 3 to 4 cloves garlic, minced
- Juice of two lemons
- Pinch salt
- 2 cups plain Greek yogurt
- 2 tsp dried mint
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350.
- Prepare the dough: if using active dry yeast, dissolve the yeast with a pinch of sugar in 1/2 cup warm water and leave for ten minutes until it froths. (If using instant yeast, skip this step and mix instant yeast directly in with the flour.)
- In a large bowl, combine flour, salt, oil and egg and add the yeast mixture. Mix with a fork and work in remaining water as needed for dough to hold together.
- Knead for five to ten minutes until dough is smooth and elastic.
- Place dough in well-oiled bowl, cover and set aside in a warm place to rise until doubled, about one hour to one hour and fifteen minutes.
- While the dough is rising, make the filling. Heat the olive oil over medium heat in a large saucepan.
- Saute the onion until softened, about five minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
- Add the ground beef and spices and cook, stirring, until the meat is no longer pink.
- Add the pine nuts and raisins saute a few additional minutes until the pine nuts are toasted. Taste and add salt and pepper if needed. Set aside
- When dough is risen, punch down and divide into four pieces. Keeping other pieces covered, take one piece and roll it out on a lightly floured board as thinly as possible.
- Cut dough into 4-inch rounds. Gather up any dough scraps and roll those out as well. You should have 6-7 rounds of dough.
- Place a heaping tablespoon of filling into the center of each round.
- Using two hands, fold in two sides of the circle and pinch together. Fold up the bottom side of the triangle and pinch all three corners together. (Close well or pastries will open up when baked.) Repeat with remaining dough and filling.
- Place filled pastries on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or a Silpat baking mat.
- Beat egg with one tablespoon of water. Brush pastries with egg wash.
- Bake pastries for 25 minutes until golden brown. Cool on a wire rack.
- While pastries are baking, make yogurt sauce. Combine minced garlic, lemon juice and salt in medium bowl and allow to stand for five minutes to soften raw garlic flavor.
- Combine garlic mixture with the Greek yogurt and mint. Season well with salt and pepper. Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil.
- Serve pastries warm or room temperature with yogurt sauce.
- Leftover pastries can be stored in the refrigerator for several days. Reheat or toast before serving. Pastries can also be wrapped well and frozen. Thaw and reheat before serving.
