Khbeiza (Stuffed Buns) Recipe! A taste of Libya!

wild mallow leaves

🥗Healthier: spinach

💰Cheaper: kale

Spinach is more accessible and still provides a similar texture.

olive oil

🥗Healthier: avocado oil

💰Cheaper: vegetable oil

Vegetable oil is often less expensive and widely available.

Mix all the dry ingredients together in the bowl of your standing mixer (or a regular bowl if kneading by hand).

Add the olive oil and water to the bowl.

Knead on medium-low if using a standing mixer. Check the stickiness of the dough after 4-5 minutes. If your dough is too sticky, then add a little bit of whole wheat flour (1/3 of a cup at a time). When you touch the dough, a tiny bit should be stuck to your fingers but you should be able to remove your fingers without any resistance. After this stage continue to knead for 6-7 minutes. If kneading by hand, this will take 16-20 minutes.

Cover with plastic wrap for 2 hours until it has doubled in volume.

In a frying pan, sauté onions and garlic until translucent and add in fresh or frozen spinach. Once cooked, add in cream cheese, salt, pepper, and lemon juice and mix until combined.

Flour your work surface and add 1/2 the remaining dough and roll out into a rough circle shape. It doesn’t have to be perfect, the less perfect it is, the more homemade it is! Slice the dough like you would a pizza into 8 triangles and then from the tip of the triangle, slice little threads. Place a dollop of the spinach mixture onto the base of the triangle and roll until the slices are on top. Once you assembled all the crescents, let the dough rise for an additional 15 minutes.

Mix together canned tuna, harissa (North African hot sauce, but any hot sauce will do). Oil your fingers with a little olive oil and take a small piece of dough and flatten it out on your hand. Add a tsp of the tuna mixture to the middle of the flattened dough and add one slice of an olive and fold all the ends together. Once you assembled all the buns, let the dough rise for an additional 15 minutes.

Preheat your oven to 395 degrees Fahrenheit. Beat one egg and brush on all the buns then add sesame seeds. Place each baking sheet separately in the oven for 18 minutes.

Cooking Techniques

Equipment Needed

Spice Level:

Dietary

Allergens