Burek

Burek is a Middle Eastern meat pastry.

Ingredients:
1 # Hamburger
2 cloves garlic
1/4 onion, finely chopped
Salt, pepper and paprika-just taste as you go, but a good starting point is around 1 t salt, 1 t fresh ground pepper and 1 1/2 t a nice smokey paprika-not a hot one, though if you like spicy foods, you could easily use one here
Butter, melted
Phyllo dough

Brown and season hamburger to taste. I used garlic, onion, and paprika.

Let meat cool.
Melt butter.
Lay out one sheet of phyllo, coat with butter. Layer on another sheet, coat with butter.
Spread a few spoonfuls of meat along the long edge of the dough sheet-be careful not to overfill or rolling and turning will be difficult.

Roll the dough over the meat into a shake shape.

 

 

Then, curl the snake into a coil (like a snail).
I usually top with extra melted butter.
Bake 375 for 15 minutes.

Phyllo dough is not hard to use, but it requires care. Mainly, you do not want it to dry out. Keep the sheets you're not using covered with plastic wrap and a wet towel at all times. Work quickly with the sheets you are using.

This can be frozen just fine. I recommend using a hard-sided container, rather than the ziplock bags I used for Freezer Meal Group.

I budgeted one pound of hamburger per family, miscounted families, and brought only 4 pounds of hamburger. That did make enough for 4 servings per family except my own, but each family could have gotten more if I'd brought more meat. Burek is meant to be eaten with a side of vegetables of some sort, but we usually eat it alone.