These open meat pies are much simpler to make than their initial appearance might suggest. We’ve adapted Sami Tamimi‘s recipe from Falastin to show that it’s a great way of stretching a little bit of meat. It only needs 250g of lamb mince, and the pomegranate molasses added to it gives the meat not just flavour but puts it centre stage. Apart from the tomato and the parsley, the other ingredients are store cupboard items.  So, what might look a bit laborious, is actually a cunning way of producing something from nothing! 

In Lebanon open meat pies exist in many formats. Sfiha from Baalbek are beautifully shaped small squares of thin dough filled with seasoned lamb.  Elsewhere, lahmé bi aajeen are bigger and more like a pizza – thin dough, cooked quickly, with a generous squeeze of lemon and the option of chilli on top. These open meat pies are plumper, the dough is softer and absorbs the juices well. They make great party food.  However, if you’d normally have a pizza on a Friday night, but don’t fancy the hassle, these are much less complicated and everyone gets to eat at the same time! Feel free to add more of the spices or pomegranate molasses to get more flavour out of the lamb. 

If you make the dough in the afternoon, these will be ready to eat for supper. 

makes 12