Ouzi
Jordan's celebration parcel: spiced lamb, rice, peas, almonds and pine nuts wrapped in markook bread and baked into a golden dome, sliced at the table.
Overview
Lamb mince is fried with onion, garlic, baharat, cinnamon, allspice and pine nuts. Basmati rice is cooked pilaf-style in a meat-spiced stock until almost done. Lamb and rice are folded together with peas, almonds and parsley. The filling is spooned into a phyllo-lined dome mould (or wide cake tin), the tops are folded over to seal, brushed with ghee, baked for 30 minutes until deep gold. Inverted onto a platter; sliced at the table.
Ingredients
Filling
- 500 g lamb mince
- 3 tablespoons ghee (or olive oil)
- 1 onion (large, finely chopped)
- 4 garlic cloves (crushed)
- 2 tablespoons Baharat
- 1 teaspoon ground allspice
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 ½ teaspoons salt
- 50 g pine nuts (toasted)
- 50 g flaked almonds (toasted)
- 150 g frozen peas
- 3 tablespoons fresh parsley (chopped)
Rice
- 300 g basmati rice (rinsed; soaked 20 minutes; drained)
- 2 tablespoons ghee
- 600 ml hot lamb stock (or chicken stock)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 4 cardamom pods (bruised)
Pastry shell
- 12 sheets phyllo pastry (thawed, kept covered with a damp tea towel)
- 100 g ghee (melted, for brushing)
To finish
- 2 tablespoons sesame seeds (optional)
Method
Stage 1 - Lamb
- Heat ghee in a wide pan over medium-high. Brown the mince hard 6 minutes, breaking up clumps.
- Add onion; cook 6 minutes.
- Add garlic, baharat, allspice, cinnamon, pepper and 1 teaspoon salt; cook 1 minute.
- Off heat. Set aside.
Stage 2 - Rice
- Heat ghee in a heavy pot. Toast drained rice 1 minute.
- Pour in hot stock; add salt, cinnamon stick, cardamom.
- Bring to a boil; cover; reduce heat to lowest; cook 12 minutes (rice will be slightly underdone).
- Off heat; rest 5 minutes.
Stage 3 - Combine
- Fold the lamb mixture, peas, pine nuts, almonds, parsley and remaining ½ teaspoon salt into the rice.
- Discard the cinnamon stick and cardamom pods if you can see them.
Stage 4 - Build the shell
- Heat oven to 200°C (180°C fan).
- Brush a 25 cm round oven dish or domed mould generously with melted ghee.
- Lay a phyllo sheet to cover the base and let the overhang drape outside the rim. Brush with ghee.
- Repeat with 7 more sheets, rotating 45° each so the entire rim is covered with overhang.
- Pack the filling into the centre firmly.
Stage 5 - Seal
- Fold the overhanging phyllo over the filling to enclose. Brush ghee between each fold.
- Crumple the remaining 4 sheets loosely on top to make a decorative dome; brush each with ghee.
- Scatter sesame seeds if using.
Stage 6 - Bake
- Bake 35-40 minutes until deep gold and crisp.
Stage 7 - Rest and serve
- Rest 10 minutes.
- Invert onto a wide platter (or serve straight from the dish for a less dramatic presentation).
- Slice into wedges like a cake. Eat with yogurt and a salad.
Notes
- Phyllo not strudel: Use thin Greek/Middle Eastern phyllo, not the thicker yufka or strudel dough. Brush each sheet generously with ghee.
- Slightly underdone rice: The rice finishes cooking in the bake. Fully cooked rice gives mushy ouzi.
- Bread shell variant: Traditional ouzi can be wrapped in markook (Jordanian thin bread) instead of phyllo. The bread version is softer; the phyllo version is crisper.
Storage
- Best fresh. Refrigerate 3 days; reheat at 180°C 15 minutes covered.
- Don't freeze the assembled dish; the pastry goes soggy.
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