Israeli Beef “Cigars”

Whenever we go out to a Middle Eastern restaurant I order those yummy little beef-filled pastries, shaped like cigars. The scent of the spices and texture of the meat make my mouth water, just talking about it.

I wanted to make them at home so I began to search for recipes. I prefer not to use the filo dough to wrap the little meat morsels as Shmuel and I don’t eat many carbs. So I knew that whatever recipe I used would have to give the meat an extra burst of flavor and texture because the meat would be the star of the show.

Galilee Green Extra Virgin Olive Oil to the rescue! Flavor and texture all in one.

You can serve these as part of an appetizer plate with some of Galilee Green’s salads like matbucha or onion dip
or make a sandwich out of them for a delicious snack.

Galilee Green Beef Cigars

Ingredients

Frying with GGOO adds great flavor

• 1 pound ground beef
• 1 tbsp Galilee Green Olive Oil (GGOO)
• 1 tbsp ground cumin
• 1/2 beaten egg
• 1 1/2 tbsp tomato paste
• 1/2 tbsp garlic powder
• 1/4 tsp white pepper
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
• 1/2 tbsp dried ground coriander seeds
• juice of half a lemon
• 5 tbsp GGOO for grilling

Directions

1. Beat egg and measure out half. You’ll only be using half of the beaten egg for this recipe.
2. Mix all ingredients together.
3. Wet your hands and shape the meat mixture into 3-inch-long cigar shapes.
4. Pour lemon juice over meat cigars before grilling.
5. Heat grill or fry pan until hot. Pour in the 5 tbsp GGOO and when the oil is hot, gently place the cigars in the pan.
6. Turn the cigars once with tongs and then lower the heat to medium and grill them a few minutes on each side until brown.

It takes about 20 minutes. But you can grill cigars until done to your personal taste.