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1
Heat olive oil in a nonstick skillet over medium low flame.
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2
Add chopped onion and cook, stirring until onion goes soft, about five minutes.
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3
Add spices and cook over low heat for another 5 minutes or so.
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4
Increase flame to medium, adding lamb and pine nuts.
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5
Cook, stirring and breaking up lamb for about 5 minutes until meat is no longer pink.
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6
Add salt to taste and set aside to cool.
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7
Preheat oven to 350F.
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8
Line a baking sheet with parchment.
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9
Unroll phyllo dough onto clean surface, cover with plastic wrap and top with a damp tea towel.
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10
On a clean work surface lay out one sheet of dough, immediately recovering the pile of unworked dough.
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11
Using a pastry brush, lightly cover dough with clarified butter.
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12
Repeat process (phyllo and butter) two more times, stacking sheets of phyllo neatly as you go.
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13
It is imperative you cover the dough that you arent working with, or it will dry out.
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14
Cut stack of lightly buttered pastry into three equal strips (lengthwise) and place 1 tablespoon of filling at bottom of each strip.
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15
Fold the strip as you would for a flag, trimming the ends as necessary.
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16
Use a light hand, as folding too tight causes the pastry to burst during baking.
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17
Brush top with butter and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar.
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18
Continue until pastry and filling used up.
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19
Bake the entire batch for 20 minutes.
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20
Traditionally, the tops of these have an egg wash and are sprinkled with sesame seeds.
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21
Your call.
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22
I have successfully used ground beef, ground venison, and ground elk in place of the lamb.
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23
Just be sure to drain off the excess grease if you are using beef.
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24
You can make the filling several days in advance.
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25
You can make the boreks and freeze before baking (add extra time to baking) or you can very successfully freeze them after they are baked.
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26
They are well worth the effort!
