Brazilian Esfiha

Brazilian food is mostly influenced by its African and Portuguese history, but Esfiha is a Lebanese food that somehow became very popular in Brazil. They are essentially mini Pizzas, so very versatile and a delicious excuse to invite your friends over for a feed!

Let's get cooking!

Ingredients

• 2 and 3/4 cups flour 

• 3/4 cup milk 

• 2 tbls olive oil 

• 1/2 cup water 

• 2 eggs 

• 7g instant yeast 

• 1tbs brown sugar 

• Salt 

For the mince filling

• 500g beef or lamb mince

• 1/2 a purple onion

• 1 tomato

• 3 cloves of garlic

• 1 tsp paprika

• 1/2 a bunch of parsley

• salt

Other common fillings: 

• Cheese 

• Cheese and tomato 

• Cheese and sausage 

• Chicken and crème cheese 

My cheesy garlic bread filling:

• Mozzarella cheese, sliced fresh garlic

But as always you can make it as yours as you would like it! 

Method

Mix all the ingredients together until it forms a dough. 

the dough, at this point, may be a bit tough to work with, so once all the ingredients are together, set the dough aside to rest for 30 minutes. 

Once the dough has rested, knead it for about 5 minutes. This dough will not become super smooth but it will become easier to work with the more you work it. 

Once semi-smooth, allow the dough to rest for about 2 hours or it has doubled in size. 

Cut the dough into even sizes it should give you about 14-16 portions, depending on

the size. 

Roll them into balls and coat them in semolina or maize flour. 

Preheat the oven to 250C 

There are two ways to shape an esfiha open or closed: 

For the open version

Using your thumb and forefinger begin shaping the esfiha so the centre of the dough is thin but it has a thick border. 

Add your filling to the centre of the dough, then let it rest for 10 minutes before placing it in the oven for 10-20 minutes or until golden. 

For the closed version

Press the ball into a thin circle. You can also do this with a rolling pin, but you don't want it too thin. 

Add a tablespoon or so of filling to the centre of the circle. Now, you're turning a circle into a triangle, so to do this, imagine the circle has two halves: a top and a bottom. Pinch the edges at the top half together to form a point. It should now look like a semicircle with a triangle on top. 

Grab the centre point of the bottom semicircle and pinch it to the centre of the whole thing, which would be the middle of the base of the top triangle. 

Close the esfiha by pinching the dough together on both sides, and it should be good

to go! 

Let them rest for 10 minutes before placing them in the oven for 10-20 minutes or

until golden. 

Enjoy!