In short, yes!
Last year Soom Foods, who produces absolutely fabulous tahini, sponsored a contest which was basically to come up with an unusual or new riff on an old Purim favorite: hamantaschen.
I won!
I won with this idea: Spiced Lamb in Phyllo Hamantaschen with Lemon-Tahini Sauce. Sure, it's not classic cake-dessert hamantaschen with prune or poppyseed filling. But, although I love those (all year, not just on Purim), I don't think hamantaschen has to be a sweet, cakey version in order to qualify.
My prize for winning was a jar of Soom sesame butter. What could be better when you want to make hummus or tahini sauce or anything else using sesame paste (butter, tahini)?
I've gone through a few jars of the stuff since then.
So here, folks, just in time for Purim, is:
Spiced Lamb in Phyllo Hamantaschen with Lemon-Tahini Sauce
olive oil
1 large onion, finely chopped
1-1/2 teaspoons finely chopped ginger
1 large clove garlic, finely chopped
1-1/2 pounds ground lamb
3 tablespoons chopped fresh mint
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
salt to taste
1/2 cup currants or raisins
1/3 cup pine nuts
12 sheets phyllo dough, approximately
Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a sauté pan over medium heat. Add the onion, ginger and garlic and cook for about 2 minutes, or until slightly softened. Add the lamb and cook, stirring occasionally, for 3-4 minutes or until the meat is completely brown. Stir in the mint, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, currants and pine nuts. Set aside to cool.
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
Place the phyllo sheets on a cutting board and cut out circles using a 3-inch cookie cutter (work with about 6 layered sheets at a time; you'll need about 12 sheets in all; some will crinkle and dry and need to be discarded). Keep the cut out phyllo circles in a pile, covered with plastic wrap. Working with three circles at a time, brush each circle with a small amount of olive oil and place a heaping tablespoon of the lamb filling in the center of the circle. Bring up the sides to form a triangle and press the edges together. Place each triangle on a baking sheet. Repeat the process until all the lamb has been used (about 24 filled triangles).
Bake the triangles for about 35 minutes or until browned and crispy. Serve hot with Lemon-Tahini Sauce.
Makes about 24
Make the sauce while the triangles are baking:
Lemon-Tahini Sauce
1/2 cup tahini (sesame paste, sesame butter)
1/3 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup water
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
salt to taste
Stir the tahini in the jar to blend in any oil that has risen to the top. Spoon the 1/2 cup tahini into a bowl. Add the lemon juice and blend it in. Add the water, olive oil, garlic and salt to taste. Blend thoroughly (use a food processor or immersion blender).
Makes one cup