Egyptian Goulash

Growing up, many of my saturdays were spent sitting at the kitchen table at my Teta’s (grandmother’s) house, and watching her and my mom turn a pile of ingredients into an array of mouthwatering dishes. My mother and her parents emigrated from Egypt when she was just a toddler, but we stay close to the Egyptian community through our faith, our hospitality, and, of course, our food. This dish, along with many others, was passed down to my grandmother from her mother and so on.

- Christina Patterson ‘23

Ingredients

1-1 ½ pound ground beef (preferably 80% lean), 1 medium onion, 2 sticks butter, 1 16 oz package of phyllo dough, 1 cup milk (ideally whole), Salt and pepper, ⅓ cup Feta cheese (optional), and ½ tsp garlic powder (optional).

METHOD

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Peel onion and mince. Mince further in food processor until no large chunks. Add salt and pepper to ground beef.

Put frying pan on low heat. Add about ⅛ stick of butter or enough to fully coat the pan. Add onions to frying pan and stir until fully coated and just starting to brown. Add ground beef to frying pan, stirring carefully.

When meat is fully browned and incorporated with onions, remove from heat. Sieve until most of the excess fat has drained out.

Unwrap butter and rub along the bottom and sides of a baking pan. Put about 1.5 sticks of butter into a 4 quart saucepan on the lowest heat setting. When butter is fully melted, remove from heat.

Take two sheets of phyllo dough and lay carefully into the pan. Using a spoon or a brush, gently sprinkle a layer of butter over the sheets. Repeat until you have finished half of the package (or one fully wrapped portion).

Add ground beef mixture and spread over the phyllo dough. You can use a spoon to smooth out the layer as much as possible.

Take two sheets of phyllo dough, lay them down on top of the meat, and sprinkle a layer of butter over the sheets. Repeat this process again until you have finished the rest of the phyllo dough.

Cut the tray contents into 3 by 3 inch squares. Go very slow, as the phyllo is fairly fragile.

Finally, put the remainder of the butter into the 4 quart sauce pan and heat on the lowest setting. Once the butter is fully melted, add about ¾ cup of milk, more if it is needed.

Mix the melted butter and milk well and pour over the pan contents until the phyllo is coated well, but not covered.

Place in the oven and bake until golden brown for about 25-30 minutes.