Kibbeh Pie - meat

The recipe which follows is a family recipe from Lisa Ades, a
documentary filmmaker. The recipe appeared in an article about Jewish-Syrian cooking in the December '97 SAVEUR magazine. What makes this Jewish Kibbeh -- as opposed to a Syrian Kibbeh -- is the use of tamarind paste.

Kibbeh Pie

For the crust:
1 cup fine-grain bulgur wheat
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon ground cumin
3/4 cup flour

For the filling:
1 1/2 lbs. ground beef
1 large yellow onion, peeled and minced
1 tablespoon tamarind concentrate
1 tablespoon ground allspice
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1 cup finely chopped walnuts
1/2 cup pine nuts
1 teaspoon sugar
seeds from 1 pomegranate (approx. 1 cup)
salt

To make the crust, place bulgur wheat in a large bowl. Add 1 cup water and set aside for 5 minutes. Drain bulgur wheat and return to bowl. Add 1 cup warm water, salt, and 1 tablespoon oil, cumin and flour. Mix well and set aside.

To make the filling, brown beef in a large skillet, stirring occasionally, over medium heat for 10 minutes. Add onions and cook until they begin to soften 5 minutes more. Meanwhile, combine tamarind with 1/4 cup warm water in a small bowl. Mix well, then add to beef mixture. Add allspice, lemon juice, walnuts, pine nuts, sugar and pomegranate seeds. Season with salt and cook, stirring occasionally, until mixture is almost dry, 3 minutes. Set aside to cool.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Using your fingers, press half the crust mixture into an oiled 10" pie plate. Evenly spread filling over crust, then, first with your fingers, then with the back of a spoon, spread remaining crust mixture over filling. Brush crust with remaining 1 tablespoon oil and bake pie until crust is golden
35-40 minutes.

Slice and serve warm.