Medfouna

Medfouna is a Moroccan dish very similar to an Italian Calzone, but w/ a totally Moroccan flair. Below is the recipe I use, but lately I've been dabbling w/ adding veggies & doing a total veggie version. I'll post my veggie notes after the recipe. I hope you enjoy if you try it!

Medfouna recipe

This recipe has two parts.
Start with the bread: (You only need half this recipe for the medfouna, but using the full recipe will give you a loaf of bread)
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 packages of yeast
• 3 cups white flour (King Arthur works best)
• 1 cups wheat flour (again King Arthur) (all white flour can be used too)
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/3 cup room temperature milk
• room temperature water
• a little oil or melted butter
Take one cup of the room temp water and mix in the sugar until it dissolves. Now add the yeast and let it sit until the yeast bubbles.

Mix 3 cups of the flour (I mix 2 C white & 1 C wheat, and reserve the extra cup of white flour for adding if necessary and for the counter top when I roll it out) and salt in a bowl. Add the activated yeast/water mix and the milk. Mix it up with a wooden spoon. Add room temp water as needed until it comes together and makes a sticky ball.
(**I do this in a food processor or KitchenAid mixer**) *Also note, I've tried this w/ more whole wheat flour & less white flour & even all whole wheat flour - it does not come out right. This mixture works well.

Put the sticky ball on a flour-covered surface and let it sit for about 20 minutes.

Come back, add in the remaining flour (give or take some) until the dough is the right consistency. It should be stiff and should bounce back when you push on it. Knead it for 10 minutes.

Divide the dough in half. Use one half to make a loaf of Moroccan bread. Shape the bread loaf, lightly oil it, cover and let it rise. Bake at 350 until done, about 20-30 minutes or so.
Now for the medfouna... divide the other half of the dough until two balls. Cover and let rise. When it has risen, roll out to circles of dough for the medfouna.
For the filling combine
• 1 onion, chopped
• finely chopped flat leaf parsley
• finely chopped cilantro
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon salt
• salt and pepper to taste (and any other spices you like - coriander, cayenne, etc)
• 1 pound or so of ground meat (or used finely chopped fillet)
• don't hesitate to throw in peppers or celery or anything else
Put the filling on one of the dough circles, leaving room around the edge. Top with the other dough circle, wetting the edge to help create a seal. You can brush the top with beaten egg and sprinkle with salt.
Pop it in the oven. The meat cooks inside the medfouna. It takes about 20-30 minutes in a 350 oven.

My personal notes: I usually roll the dough out really thin, and instead of making one large one (rolling out one layer, filling it, then covering w/ the other layer), I use each "layer" and fill 1/2 of it, then fold it over like a calzone, sealing the other 3 edges.
So, I like the plain meat version above, but felt we needed to add more veggies to this meal, so I'll shred a couple of carrots and add it to the mixture, sometimes adding thinly sliced sweet peppers, maybe some celery, what ever you have on hand that you like. If you feel so inclined, add some cheese in there too.
For my total veggie one, I used shredded carrots, thinly sliced celery, chopped onions, sweet peppers, sliced tomatoes (again, what ever you have on hand that you like). I thought about adding some broccoli and/or cauliflower, but chose not to this time. I also think some chopped olives would be good, but forgot to add them. Also, optional cheese - mix it all together w/ the above spices (or whatever tickles your tastebuds). Spread it out on the dough, fold the dough over and seal the edges. I like the effect the egg white has on the bread while cooking - gives it a little crispness and a nice, shiny appearance.
OH!!! I also often add harissa in the mixture for an extra kick (spicy!!). So, may as well post the harissa recipe here too... it's tasty on lots of things.