Recipe: Moroccan Meat Parcels

My husband cooks for me every now and then. It’s both fun and challenging for each of us, he gets to practice his cooking skills and I practice patience.

I feel like I’ve come a long way in sitting back and letting things just happen. I ask if I can make a suggestion before I make one and I usually just let him do his thing. He’s a really great cook and I appreciate his attention to detail when he cooks for me.

It’s surely a labor of love!

I did interrupt after pan-cooking ground beef was going beyond 35 minutes to say that it was probably done…

Here is our adapted* recipe

Moroccan Meat Parcels:

1 egg
1 teaspoon cooking oil
1 medium carrot
1/2 medium onion
1/2 pound lean ground beef
1/2 cup canned diced tomatoes
1/4teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon coriander
dash of cardamom
dash of salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1 package phyllo dough (thawed)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Put parchment paper on a flat baking sheet and set aside.
Beat one egg in a small bowl and set aside as an egg bath for the phyllo pastry.
Dice 1 medium carrot and 1/2 medium onion (tennis ball size) and put in a frying pan with 1 tsp cooking oil on medium heat. Stir until fragrant and add ground beef.
Cook ground beef as it begins to brown add canned tomatoes and spices. Reduce heat to low and simmer until mixture reduces, it will take about 10 minutes.
Cut phyllo sheets in half and keep the rest covered with a clean cloth until ready to use. Place 2-4 Tablespoons of meat mixture almost at the end of the phyllo rectangle. (Follow photos for folding directions). Brushing on an egg wash (“bath”) after each fold to ensure pastry sticks together.
Arrange parcels on parchment paper on baking sheet.
Bake in preheated oven until golden and crisp, approximately 30 minutes. Rotate tray in oven halfway through baking to ensure parcels cook evenly.

Serve with hummus, creamy harissa, couscous and vegetables (I used frozen vegetables and added lemon juice and cilantro along with the same spices I used in the meat to season my veggies before roasting them).

*Adapted from two recipes one from CBC and one from All Recipes.