moroccan cigars

this appetizer is a great vegetarian rendition of a moroccan jewish dish i had a few times over in israel, and have craved ever since. and you’ll sure fool your meat-eating friends. as for baking the “cigars,” you can fry them instead (try it), but baking is easier, less messy, and healthier.

ingredients:
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1/3 cup olive oil
12 oz fake beef crumble
2 t cinnamon
1/2 t ground allspice
1/4 t ginger
pepper
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
5 eggs
1 lb filo pastry
a few T melted butter

instructions:
-preheat oven to 300 degrees.
-saute onion in the olive oil until soft. add fake beef crumble and stir until it breaks apart. add seasonings and spices and cook until heated through. add parsley.
-lightly beat eggs in a bowl and pour over the meat. cook for 1-2 minutes, constantly stirring, until egg mixture sets to “creamy consistency,” whatever that means. turn off the burner and get going on the filo.
-cut each sheet of filo pastry into three equal-sized rectangles. place one on top of the other and cover with a damp dish towel (i suggest lightly spritzing the towel with a water bottle).
- brush one of the rectangles lightly with melted butter. place a heaping teaspoon of filling along one of the short edges. Tuck the edge and ends of pastry around the filling, and roll into a cigar shape. repeat with other rectangles.
- place cigars side by side on a greased baking sheet. brush with melted butter and bake for 25-30 minutes until the cigars are golden. serve warm.

makes about 20 servings. hmm…

original recipe from recipehound.com, http://www.recipehound.com/Recipes/1524.html, april 17, 2002. changes made by devon.