Sanbusak - or Spicy Meat Triangles

When I was a small child, one of the things a parent could buy from the stores to make hors d'oevres was spinach and cheese triangles. There were also these lovely things called "Spicy meat triangles". I've never seen these as an adult when trying to find finger foods - it's all pastizzi and wontons (not that I don't love those too). So when I held a dinner party a few years ago that it was a bit retro, I really wanted to find a recipe to make some.

Taste.com.au to the rescue! Though I opted for the easier version, they were so good that two of my guests asked if there were leftovers to take home! This recipe makes about twelve triangles

Equipment

• Knife
• Chopping board
• Cup
• Frying pan
• Wooden spoon or spatula
• 2 small bowls
• Clean tea towel
• Pastry brush
• Baking tray
• Baking paper
• Microwave

Ingredients

• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 2 small- medium onion or 1 large
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp ground allspice
• 500g minced lamb
• 2 tbsp tomato paste
• 50g packet of pine nuts
• 1 small bunch of coriander
• 1 small bunch of mint
• 1/2 large lemon or 1 small
• 2 pinches of salt
• 1 pinch of pepper
• Packet of filo pastry (should be around 350g) - you will have some leftover that you can try to freeze, but I haven't had much luck with it, so if you can get a smaller packet, do it.
• 125g butter (half a block)

Method:

1. Chop your onion finely.
2. Chop up your coriander and mint finely, and put them in the small bowl.
3. Squeeze your lemon into the cup.
4. Heat the oil in your frying pan over a medium heat (about 2/3 of the way on)
5. Add the onion and cook for about ten minutes - they should be soft and a bit translucent. 
6. Add the cinnamon, ginger and allspice, and stir in for about a minute or so, which should be enough time for the aroma to be really obivious
7. Add the meat and cook (breaking it up as you go) until it is browned - think of it as a savoury mince, so you want it to be quite mince-ish, rather than lumpy.
8. Stir in the tomato paste, pine nuts, coriander, and lemon juice.
9. Add your salt and pepper.

Put aside to cool for at least 20 minutes to let the flavours mingle. (In fact you can put it in the fridge for a few hours if put it in a bowl and cover it with glad wrap)

1. Preheat your oven to 180 Celsius.
2. Wipe down your bench, and dry it off.
3. Melt your butter in your second bowl in the microwave for 30 seconds on full.
4. Wet and wring out your clean tea-towel. You want it to be damp, not really wet.
5. Open your filo pastry packet, and unfold your filo pastry to full size, and cover it with the damp tea-towel.
6. Pull off one sheet, and brush it with butter using your pastry brush. Pull off a second sheet and set it down on top of the first. Brush the top layer with butter. Cut into three strips and then layer them on top of eachother, so you have 6 layers of pastry.
7. Place one heaped tablespoon of your spice meat at one end of the pastry strip. Fold the corner over the meat, so you make a pastry covered triangle at one end. Continue folding up the strip until your triangle is complete.
8. Place on the baking tray, and repeat this process until your baking tray is filled with triangles
9. Brush all your completed triangles with butter.
10. Put into the oven for 20 minutes.

Serving:

These are good served hot, warm or at room temperature, but not so good cold. They are a bit oily so one or two should be plenty. Or more if you want to serve them as a main (yes, with a salad they really are good enough to be your main).