I know you’re looking for fun appetizers during this season, so let me tell you all about my take on Moroccan meat cigars (Moroccan briouat or briwat). A perfect finger food, this dish is essentially a flaky, crunchy pastry (warka) stuffed with a flavor-packed spiced meat filling. My recipe is loaded with golden raisins for some extra sweetness, turmeric, cumin and other warm spices. Since warka is pretty tricky to find, I’m using phyllo pastry in the recipe, which will lead to a similar result. I love serving these with freshly made garlicky toum for a sharp bite.
You can make them in advance, roll ‘em up and freeze them, then fry them right before serving. Your guests are going to love these!
Make them your own:
Want to make these gluten-free? Instead of phyllo pastry, gluten-free egg roll wraps should do the job.
Are you vegetarian or vegan? Mushrooms would make an amazing substitute for the ground meat. Chop them up (or pulse them in a food processor) and cook until deeply brown in color. Keep in mind you’ll need some extra oil to make up for the lack of fat!
Do you absolutely despise raisins? No worries! Dates would be great, dried tart cherries, even chopped up dried apricots.
Can’t bother with an oil bath? Lightly brush the pastry with oil all over before rolling in the meat, brush some more oil on top of the rolled pastry and bake these at 375°F until they look golden on the outside and crispy to the touch.
Let me know if you have any questions in the comments!
Grateful to have you here! Wishing you a wonderful week!
Best,
Carolina x
PRINTABLE RECIPE
Prep time: 30 minutes
Cook time: 30 minutes
Total time: 1 hour
Makes 12 meat cigars, 3 to 4 servings
INGREDIENTS
Toum
12 garlic cloves
1/4 cup (60g) freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/4 cup plus 1/2 cup neutral oil (180g), such as sunflower seed oil, grape seed oil, etc.
Kosher salt
Meat Cigars
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
4 medium shallots, finely chopped
1 pound (450g) 80/20 ground beef or ground lamb
1/3 cup gold raisins, optional but recommended
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon sweet paprika
1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
Kosher salt
Black pepper
12 sheets phyllo pastry
Neutral oil, for frying, such as sunflower oil, canola oil, vegetable oil, etc.
Lemon wedges, paprika or cumin, flaky salt and fresh parsley, for serving
INSTRUCTIONS
Make the toum:
In a food processor, countertop blender or using an immersion blender, blend together the garlic, lemon juice, 1/4 cup oil, and a pinch of salt, until smooth. With the blender running, slowly drizzle in the remaining 1/2 cup of oil in a slow, steady stream. You’ll notice the sauce going from a runny consistency, to a thicker, mayonnaise-like consistency. Taste and season with more salt as needed.
Make the filling:
In a medium (about 3-quart) saucepan over medium heat, heat the oil. Add the shallots and cook, stirring frequently, for 4 to 5 minutes until translucent and golden, slightly crispy in some spots.
Add the meat to the pan, and cook for about 5 to 7 minutes, until brown in certain spots, raw in other spots.
Add the raisins, garlic, cumin, paprika, turmeric, cinnamon, a big pinch of salt and freshly cracked black pepper. Cook stirring occasionally, until the meat is deeply brown.
Transfer the meat to a medium bowl or plate and set aside to cool to room temperature.
Assemble:
Get a clean kitchen towel and place it under running tap water for a few seconds. Squeeze out excess water. You should be left with a damp towel.
Open the phyllo pastry package. We’ll be working with one phyllo pastry sheet at a time, while doing so, make sure to cover the rest of the pastry with the damp towel to prevent it from drying out.
Try to keep the pastry sheet whole. If it breaks in 2 or 3 strips, you should still be to roll it. If it tears all over, you can set it aside and bake it later as a snack. Click HERE for a dessert recipe you can make using phyllo pastry scraps. You can also freeze any remaining sheets of phyllo for later, simply roll them back up in plastic and freeze.
Lay a phyllo sheet on your work surface. Place about 2 tablespoons of the meat mixture on top and start rolling.
Tuck in the sides of the pastry to seal in the meat. Brush a little oil on the ends of the pastry, to seal the pastry on that final roll. You should be left with a cigar-like tube. Set aside on a plate or baking sheet. Repeat with remaining phyllo and meat.
Fill up a medium frying pan with about 1 inch (3cm) of oil. Heat to 350°F, or until sizzling hot.
Set a baking sheet with a cooling rack on top next to your frying station. Place a paper towel on the rack (this will absorb any excess oil from our fried pastry).
Carefully add the pastry to the oil, a few pieces at a time and cook, for about 30 seconds on each side or until golden and crispy. If the pastry opens up a bit at the seam, don’t worry, it’s totally fine, just keep on frying. Place the fried pastry on the paper towel and season with salt.
Serve with toum, a sprinkle of paprika or cumin, flaky salt and lemon wedges on the side. Parsley too if you’re feeling frisky.
Toum is my favorite thing in the whole wide world! These look amazing, Carolina!
These look so good - what a great and easy appetizer option for the holidays! 🙌