A Saturday morning breakfast, known in traditional homes as a “small kiddush” and served after returning from synagogue, has long since become a brunch meal, since it is eaten in the late morning or early afternoon hours. Each community has its own special delicacies and customs that accompany this meal.
Some serve a selection of mezze, others combine fish with meat stews and other dishes that were cooked overnight in a cholent pot, such as brown eggs. Pastries such as dough pockets, breads, rolls, or special dumplings also have their place.
Here I bring a taste of a wonderful dish served in both Bulgarian cuisine and the Sephardi-Jerusalemite kitchen – Pastel con carne, a dough spiral filled with meat. This is essentially a long puff pastry roll from which a large spiral is formed or individual meat-filled pockets are made. Usually, the spiral is made from homemade puff pastry, but to save time I chose to prepare it using ready-made puff pastry. If you are short on time, it is enough to prepare just the spiral. Bake it in a hot oven, and you will save yourself the effort of shaping individual pastries. For vegetarians, the filling can be made with onions and mushrooms.
Pastel con carne (meat-filled pastry spiral)
Preparation, styling, and photography: Pascal Peretz-Rubin
Difficulty level: Medium
Preparation time: About 50 minutes
Type of dish: Meat-based
Ingredients:
• 1/4 cup oil
• 2 large onions, finely chopped
• 400 grams finely ground beef (neck cut)
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 100 grams pine nuts
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup chopped parsley
• 1 package (400 grams) store-bought puff pastry
• 1 beaten egg
• 1/2 cup sesame seeds
• 1 tablespoon nigella seeds
Preparation method:
Heat oil in a wide pan and sauté the onion until golden. Add the meat, break it apart, and fry until it turns gray.
Cover the pan and cook for 6–7 minutes over medium heat, allowing the liquids to be absorbed.
Add salt, pepper, and cinnamon and cook for 1–2 more minutes. Remove from heat, add pine nuts, egg, and parsley, and mix.
Roll out the dough on a floured work surface into a thin rectangular sheet. Place the filling along one side of the sheet and roll it into a long log. Shape the log into a spiral and place it on a baking tray lined with parchment paper.
Brush the spiral with egg and sprinkle sesame seeds and nigella seeds on top.
Bake for about 40 minutes in an oven preheated to 250°C.