Meat Pie (Burek)

How to prepare meat pie (burek)

1. Filling: Sauté the finely chopped onion in hot oil until softened. Add the meat and fry until it changes color. Remove the pan from heat and add the spices and pepper paste. Let it cool, then add the beaten egg.
   * If the meat is very fatty, you can drain the grease from the pan after frying;
   ** If you don't have a small egg, beat a regular egg and use only half of it
   ** You can use other spices for the filling; for a Greek touch, you can use the seasoning from this recipe (oregano, thyme, allspice, cinnamon); for simpler seasoning, just use salt, pepper and paprika; the important thing is that the mixture is well seasoned
2. Dough: Put the flour in a large bowl and make a well in the center. Sprinkle the salt around the edge of the flour, and pour the water in the center. With your fingers, start pulling the flour into the water, mixing until all the flour is absorbed. Then knead either by hand for 10 minutes until the dough is elastic and not sticky, or with a bread machine on the kneading program.
3. Place the dough on a lightly floured work surface. Divide into 4 equal pieces and shape each into a ball. Flatten the dough pieces into discs about 10 cm in diameter.
4. In a small bowl, put the melted lard (if using) and some oil. Stack the dough discs in the fat (one on top of another) and add enough oil to cover them.
5. Let the dough rest in the fat for 30 minutes.
6. Begin forming the pie: Take a piece of dough from the fat, drain slightly, and place on a clean surface. With your hands, start stretching the dough. It will stretch very easily, like chewing gum. When it's thin enough, start pulling the edges all around until you get a transparent sheet through which you can see the table. If a few small holes appear, especially around the edges, it's no problem. Cut off the thick edges with a knife all around the dough.
   * You can see photos of the dough and its stretching here.
8. On one long side of the dough, place 1/4 of the filling (form an even line). Roll up the dough. Coil the resulting roll into a snail shape. Place the snail on a baking tray greased with a little oil.
9. Repeat the stretching and rolling with the remaining dough pieces and filling. Attach each new roll to continue the initial snail. At the end, you'll have one large snail shape.
   * If it takes longer to stretch the new sheets, keep the snail covered with plastic wrap as it dries quickly
10. Bake the meat pie at 220°C for 25 minutes, until golden brown.
11. Remove from the oven and once it cools slightly, you can cut it into pieces (using a serrated knife, like a bread knife). It's good warm or cold. Great for breakfast, served with yogurt.

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