Cheese Sambousek/ Cheese Borek
Description
My love of those cheesy oozy sambusek knows no bounds. Frying them guarantees a shatteringly crispy result, and the oozy, stretchy cheese filling makes them more so appealing — keep this recipe in mind, it is a total winner! With a detailed video tutorial below.
Ingredients
For the dough
- 500 grams / 1 lb. 2 oz / 3 1/4 cups all-purpose-flour
- 1 teaspoon mahlab optional
- 1 tablespoon white vinegar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 egg
- 2 tablespoon sugar syrup or granulated sugar
- 100 grams/ 3.5 oz butter room temperature
- Water as needed start with 1/2 cup or more to create a dry dough
For the cheese filling:
- 500 grams 1 lb 2 oz cheese a mixture of mshallaleh, majdoola and mozzarella (you can use mozzarella alone, or a mix of mozzarella and Swiss cheese)
- 3 tablespoons sunflower or canola oil
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1 cup milk
- a pinch of nigella seeds optional
- 1//4 teaspoon mahlab optional
- To make the flour slurry:
- 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/3 water
Instructions
- To make the dough: In a bowl, combine together the flour, beaten egg, white vinegar, sugar and salt. Add water as needed to create a stiff dough. Start with a half cup and add as needed to end up with an elastic dough of one texture; keep the dough firm and stiff, don’t add a lot of water.
- Knead dough until smooth and elastic, 5 minutes. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and let stand at room temperature for at least 20 minutes, this is an essential part of the process.
- The next step is combining the fat with the dough. The fat smooths and moistens the texture and tenderizes the gluten formation. Add the butter and continue kneading thoroughly until the butter is completely incorporated and the dough is smooth, shiny, and elastic.
- Cover with cling film and refrigerate overnight, can be refrigerated for up to 3 days before using. It is an ideal dough to use whenever a recipe calls for puff pastry, the easiest alternative to puff pastry.
- To make the filling:
- Add the sunflower oil to a saucepan and warm it for a couple of seconds before adding the flour. Once the flour has been added mix it together with a whisk to form a paste and let it cook for 30 seconds.
- Add 1 cup of the milk and whisk constantly to remove any lumps, even if you still have lumps, no worries they will dissolve totally with the cheese. Keep on stirring until the mix totally thickens up.
- Add the cheeses and nigella seeds (if used) and whisk constantly over medium heat to melt the cheese and integrate the everything together.
- You should end up with a smooth, pliable and stretchy mix with no lumps! Leave it to cool down completely before filling the sambousek.
- To put together:Make the rectangle form! Remove the dough from the refrigerator, knock it back and remove from the bowl and divide it into 2 even portions. Using a rolling pin, roll one dough at a time out on a floured work surface to 1/4 inch / 6 mm thick. The dough gets sticky, so make sure you have more flour nearby as you roll. Use a pizza cutter, score into (5 x 5 ) cm/(2.5 x 2.5) inches squares. The exact dimensions are not important, but the thickness is. You can make them bigger than that!
- Fill the squares of dough by placing a heaping tablespoon of filling in the center of each square.
- Make the flour slurry by combining flour and water in a small bowl to a moderate thick consistency; brush the boarders of each square (this is an extra step to bind the edges together with no leaking during frying)
- Fold two corners over the filling to make a mini rectangle. Using a fork, crimp the edges of the sambousek together to seal. You want to make sure you have a tightly sealed turnover to help prevent filling from leaking out while frying.
- Ready to fry or freeze!
- Or you can add nigella seeds to garnish the center of your sambousek. Brush the center of sambousek with flour and water slurry and sprinkle with nigella seeds, if desired
- Heat oil to an adequate frying temperature, usually 350 °F/ 180 °C. When you are ready, slip a few sambousek (don’t crowd the frying pan). Fry until golden, 2 or 3 minutes, then flip. When both sides are golden brown, move the sambousek to a plate lined with kitchen paper towels and continue with the rest!
- Alternatively, you can shape the sambousek/ borek to a halfmoon dough, just like you are making empanadas! Here is the technique:
- Remove the dough from the refrigerator, knock it back and remove from the bowl and divide it into 2 even portions. Using a rolling pin, roll one dough at a time out on a floured work surface to 1/4 inch / 6mm thick.
- Using a 4-inch / 10 cm cookie cutter, cut the dough into circles. Collect any scraps and reroll to cut more circles.
- Fill the circles of dough by placing a tablespoon of filling in the center of each circle. Make the flour slurry by combining flour and water in a small bowl to a moderate thick consistency; brush the edges of each circle (this is an extra step to bind the edges together with no leaking during frying)
- Carefully fold the circle in half, making a half-moon shape. press edges firmly to seal. Crimp edges with the back of a fork.
- Heat oil to an adequate frying temperature, usually 350 °F/ 180 °C. When you are ready, slip a few sambousek (don’t crowd the frying pan). Fry until golden, 2 or 3 minutes, then flip. When both sides are golden brown, move the sambousek to a plate lined with kitchen paper towels and continue with the rest!
Video
Notes
- For freezing:Line a sheet pan with parchment paper. Spread the sambousek in a single layer, leaving them separated from one another. Freeze for several hours, remove from the pan and store in a zip-top (this will prevent them from sticking together).
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!