Lamb lahma with pine nuts & cherry tomatoes

2 tbsp olive oil

2 onions, peeled and diced

500g ground lamb

2 tbsp baharat spice mix (here)

2 tbsp tomato paste

60g tahini paste

50g/ml water

a pinch of table salt

10 cherry tomatoes, quartered

50g pine nuts

Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan on a high heat, then add the diced onions. Sauté until they are soft and starting to color (this will take about 8–10 minutes), then add the meat. Keep the heat high and mix the meat around vigorously to break it into little pieces. Season with salt and pepper, stir in the spice mix and continue cooking until the meat has browned (this should take about 5–6 minutes). Stir in the tomato paste and cook for another 2–3 minutes. Taste and adjust the seasoning as necessary, then remove to a bowl to cool a little.

Mix the tahini paste with the water and the salt, whisking it until it becomes smooth. Place a spoonful of tahini in the center of each dough disc and spread it around a little. Cover with the cooked lamb, then top with the cherry tomatoes and pine nuts.

Carefully lift each lahma onto the preheated tray and bake for 8–10 minutes. We like to serve this with extra tahini dip and a fresh tomato salad.

Burekas

Made throughout the Balkans, burekas are savory pastry parcels with different fillings, often potato, cheese or meat. The pastry varies as well, from short and crumbly to layered and crunchy, like filo or puff, or even doughy, more like bread rolls. For home baking I have found none better than this, the pastry dough that will change your baking life—our famed “dough number 4.” It is easy to make, fail-safe and extremely tasty. At Honey & Co we use this for a few of our breakfast bakes, and it is great for canapés and pies. Alternatively, you could buy ready-made puff pastry and just make the fillings. It is cheating but the burekas will still be delicious, and no one need know. You can prepare your burekas in advance and freeze them; just remember they need to be thawed before baking so that the filling is nice and hot by the time the pastry is cooked. The fillings here are a few tried-and-tested suggestions. If you experiment with different fillings, be sure to over-season slightly, to make up for the fact that they will be wrapped in pastry.

“Dough number 4”

Makes about 1kg

This recipe makes twice the amount you need for a single batch of burekas, but it is a versatile dough that freezes well, so it is worth making the full amount and keeping some for another day. If you prefer, you can halve the quantities; the only problem you face is halving an egg. The best way is to crack it into a little dish, whisk well and then use half. Use the remaining beaten egg to glaze the pastry before baking. Waste not, want not.

500g all-purpose flour

½ tsp granulated sugar

1½ tsp table salt

1 tsp baking powder

250g cold unsalted butter, diced

125g full fat cream cheese

1 egg

125g/ml heavy cream

Place all the ingredients in a mixer bowl with a paddle attachment or in a food processor and work them together to form a nice smooth dough. (You could of course do this by hand, in which case you will need to rub the butter into the flour and other dry ingredients before mixing in the cream cheese, egg and cream.) The idea is to keep everything cold and not to overwork the dough—you want some flecks of butter running through, as this will result in a lovely flaky texture once baked. Form the dough into a ball, press down to flatten it, wrap in cling film and chill in the fridge for at least 1 hour. You can prepare the dough up to 3 days in advance of baking—just keep it wrapped in cling film in the fridge until you need it.

If you are making a full batch but only need half for now, divide it in two, wrap both pieces in cling film, then put one in the fridge and the other in the freezer. It keeps well for up to a month; simply thaw before rolling and filling.

Potato & oregano burekas

Makes 8 carb-on-carb pockets of bliss

For the filling

2–3 large whole potatoes (about 500–600g)

80g pecorino or Parmesan cheese, finely grated

200g feta cheese, crumbled

1 egg

2 tbsp sour cream

3 sprigs of oregano, leaves picked and roughly chopped

½ tsp table salt, plus more to taste

½ tsp freshly ground black pepper, plus more to taste

For the pastry

½ batch “dough number 4” (here) or 500g ready-made puff pastry

1 egg mixed with a pinch of table salt, to glaze

poppy seeds to sprinkle (if you like)

Preheat the oven to 450°F/425°F convection. Place the potatoes on a rack in the center of the oven and bake for 40–50 minutes, or until you can insert a knife without meeting any resistance. Leave to cool. Meanwhile, mix all the other filling ingredients together.

Once the potatoes are cool enough to handle, slit them in half and scoop the flesh into a bowl. Smash it a little, then combine with the filling ingredients. Taste and adjust the seasoning as necessary. Remember that because the filling gets encased in pastry, it needs to be very well seasoned.

Dust your workbench with a sprinkling of flour to stop the dough sticking (I try to use as little as I can). Roll the dough into a rectangle roughly 12 inches × 24 inches. Cut it in half lengthways and divide each strip into four, giving you eight squares roughly 6 inches × 6 inches.

Divide the filling between the squares. Slightly moisten the edges of the dough with a little water and fold the squares in half to create filled rectangles. Pinch the edges to seal or use a fork to press them together. Place on a tray lined with baking parchment. If you want to freeze the burekas this would be the time. Freeze them flat on the tray and, once they are frozen, transfer to a sealed container or freezer bag.

When you are ready to bake, heat the oven to 400°F/375°F convection. Brush egg wash all over the top of the burekas and sprinkle them with poppy seeds if using. Place in the center of the oven and bake for 20–25 minutes, turning the tray around halfway through, until they are golden and fully cooked.

Burnt eggplant burekas

Makes 8 large ones

For the filling

3 long purple-black eggplants (if you can, get Italian ones; they are amazing)

1 clove of garlic, crushed

150g feta cheese, crumbled

50g pecorino or Parmesan cheese, finely grated

½ tsp table salt

a generous pinch of freshly ground black pepper

1 small bunch of parsley, leaves chopped

1 egg

For the pastry

½ batch “dough number 4” (here) or 500g ready-made puff pastry

1 egg mixed with a pinch of table salt, to glaze

sesame seeds to sprinkle (if you wish)

Start by burning the eggplants. I usually do this on the flame of a gas stovetop until the skin is burnt all over and the flesh is completely soft. If you don’t have a gas stovetop, you can char them on a griddle pan (this will take longer than an open flame, about 20–30 minutes) or you can set them under the broiler on its highest setting and turn them every 6–8 minutes until they feel very soft.

Remove them to a colander to cool and drain any excess liquid. In the meantime mix the remaining filling ingredients together. Once the eggplants are at a temperature you can handle, slit them in half and scoop out the flesh with a spoon. Combine with the other filling ingredients, then taste and adjust the seasoning as necessary. Remember that as this gets encased in pastry, the filling needs to be very well seasoned.

Dust your workbench with a sprinkling of flour to stop the dough sticking (I try to use as little as I can). Roll the dough into a large rectangle of about 12 inches × 24 inches. Cut in half lengthways and divide each strip into four, to give you eight squares of roughly 6 inches × 6 inches.

Divide the eggplant mixture among the dough squares. Slightly moisten the edges of the dough with a little water and fold the squares in half from corner to corner to create filled triangles. Pinch the edges to seal or use a fork to press them together. Place on a tray lined with baking parchment. If you want to freeze these, this would be the time. Freeze flat on the tray, then, once they are frozen, transfer to an airtight container or bag. Allow to thaw completely before baking.

When you are ready to bake, preheat the oven to 400°F/375°F convection. Brush egg wash all over the top of the pastries and sprinkle with sesame seeds, if using. Place in the center of the oven and bake for 20–25 minutes, turning the tray around halfway through, until they are golden and fully cooked.

Merguez sausage rolls

Makes 8 rolls

Brian delivers the meat from our excellent butcher, Godfreys in London’s Islington. He is the sweetest man and everyone in the kitchen is happy to see him, especially HD, one of our chefs—the two of them seem to take special pleasure in slightly lewd banter. Every morning Brian comes in the kitchen with the same lame joke, “Here’s your order: sausages, bacon, black pudding…” as he unpacks our wonderful lamb, beef and chicken. The Moroccan lamb sausages he brings us are heavily spiced with cumin and chile, and work a dream nestled in this pastry—lambs in a blanket.

For the filling

1 tbsp olive oil

2 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely chopped

80g tomato paste

2 tbsp harissa paste

1 tsp granulated sugar

a pinch of table salt

125g/ml water

juice of ½ lemon

16 thin merguez sausages

For the pastry

½ batch “dough number 4” (here) or 500g ready-made puff pastry

1 egg mixed with a pinch of table salt, to glaze

nigella seeds to sprinkle (if you wish)

Heat the oil in a medium-sized pan over a medium-high heat, then add the garlic and stir around until it starts to smell fragrant and stick to the bottom of the pan (roughly 2 minutes). Add the tomato paste, harissa paste, sugar and salt and mix together. Stir in the water and cook on a low heat for 5 minutes, then mix in the lemon juice and cook for a further 2 minutes. Set aside to cool.

Divide the tomato sauce among the dough squares, about 2 tablespoons per square, and top each with two sausages. Dampen the edges of the dough with a touch of water and fold over to encase the sausages so that only their ends are peeking out. Place seam-side down on a tray lined with baking parchment. If you want to freeze these, this would be the time. Freeze flat on the tray, then, once they are frozen, transfer to an airtight container or bag. Allow to thaw completely before baking.

When you are ready to bake, heat the oven to 400°F/375°F convection. Brush egg wash all over the top of the rolls and sprinkle with nigella seeds, if using. Place in the center of the oven and bake for 20–25 minutes, turning the tray around halfway through, until they are golden and fully cooked.

Three strange Yemeni breads

My grandmother was Egyptian by origin, but after she married into a Yemeni family she learnt to master Yemeni food, which has three essentials—the soup, the bread and the relish. Most Yemeni meals are based around a soup, of which there are a tremendous number, with grains, pulses, vegetables or meat, and always fragrant with hawayej, a traditional spice mix. The relishes are zehug, a mixture of fresh coriander and chiles spiced with cardamom (here), and hilbe, ground fenugreek seeds which have been soaked overnight. These are always on the table and are such an important part of the seasoning for every meal that Yemeni people have been known to carry a jar of each when they travel abroad. The bread is probably the most important part, and the most varied. There are so many types and so many regional, even familial, variants on each that I do not know them all. Some breads are simple and ubiquitous, and can be served at any time of day. Others are elaborate and, frankly, so strange that they are an acquired taste. The three below are the ones I grew up with, and are very easy to love.

Kubaneh

Makes a classic metal bread pot or an 8 inch cake tin of the strangest bread you can imagine

This Yemeni breakfast bread was the pride of my grandmother’s table, and has the flavor of my fondest childhood memories—of all the family gathered for the holidays and my grandmother’s oven producing the most heavenly smell as it opened to reveal simple aluminum pots, the contents of which would bring so much joy… and occasional anguish, as we would always squabble over the last piece.

For the dough

60g light brown sugar

15g fresh yeast or 1 heaped tsp dried yeast

300–350g/ml warm water

250g bread flour

250g all-purpose flour

1 tsp table salt

For shaping

3 tbsp vegetable oil

100g unsalted butter (or, more traditionally, margarine) at room temperature

1 tbsp honey

Mix the sugar with the yeast and 200g/ml of the water in a small jug until the yeast is dissolved. Set aside for about 10 minutes until it starts to bubble up a little.

Place the flours and salt in a mixing bowl (you can use an electric mixer with a dough hook or just work this by hand). Pour in the yeasted water while mixing, then slowly mix in the additional water until you have a very wet, smooth dough. Continue kneading until it has a supple and shiny texture; it gets very sticky, but the wetter, the better. Cover the bowl with cling film or a damp towel and set in a warm place to double in size (about 2 hours). Alternatively, let it slowly rise overnight in the fridge for a better flavor. Once risen, it should look all bubbly and happy and jumpy—that’s a good sign.

Prepare your baking vessel. We use a traditional lidded aluminum pot, but you can use any ovenproof medium-sized pan with a tight-fitting lid, or an 8 inch cake tin with a solid bottom and a home-made lid of aluminum foil. Brush some butter generously over the base and sides of the tin or pan, and inside the lid or foil.

Now here’s the strange bit, so pay attention: you moisten your palms with water and flip the dough about in the bowl to knock it back. Repeat this process three times, moistening your hands between each flip.

Pour the oil onto a small tray. Divide the very wet, sticky dough into seven or eight pieces, and place them on it. Pat your hands in the oil and pick up a piece of dough. Stretch it a little, then place some soft butter in the center. Spread slightly, then fold the dough around it and shape into a rough ball. Place in the center of the tin. Repeat with the rest of the dough, placing the butter-filled balls around the central one to cover the base. The dough shouldn’t come much higher than two-thirds of the way up the sides of the tin or pan, or it will overflow when baked.

Once all the dough balls are in, top with any remaining butter (don’t worry if there isn’t any) and drizzle with the honey. Cover the pot or tin with the lid or aluminum foil, and leave to rise for about an hour until the dough almost reaches the top. Preheat the oven to 425°F/400°F convection.

Place the covered tin or pan in the center of the oven and bake for 30 minutes. Turn it around 180 degrees so that it bakes evenly, then reduce the heat to 400°F/375°F convection and bake for a further 30 minutes. Finally, reduce the heat to 350°F/325°F convection and bake for another 30 minutes (1½ hours’ baking in total). Turn the oven off and leave the bread inside for at least an hour. Keep in a warm place until you are ready to eat.

This bread is great on its own for breakfast, but in my grandmother’s house we would have it with thick slices of butter. The best part is the darkly caramelized crust, the bit we would all fight over.