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Msemen, also known as Meloui, is a soft square-shaped type of Moroccan bread, used for breakfast and snacks. You can eat msemen without any additions, especially if it's freshly cooked and crispy. You can also apply some additions like chocolate, cheese, or butter to add extra flavor to your snack.
Stuffed msemen, as the name indicates, is a msemen filled with other Ingredients. Usually, Moroccans use ground meat or lamb fat with vegetables as a felling. But you can use other options like tuna, or vegetables alone if you're a vegan.
This post offers you the recipe of the Moroccan stuffed msemen. It will also teach you the way to make this delicious snack step by step. Without further ado, let's start making some stuffed msemen.
First, let's start by collecting the ingredients. We will need different ingredients for the dough and the filling.
Dough & Filling Ingredients for Moroccan Stuffed Msemen/Meloui
These are the ingredients that we need to make stuffed msemen dough:
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar (optional)
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup fine semolina
1 teaspoon yeast
1 cup warm water
1/4 cup olive oil
Note: You can adjust water quantity as you make the dough. And the olive oil is for kneading and coating.
These are the ingredients that we'll need for making the Filling:
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon (optional)
1 Finely chopped onion
1 Finely chopped bell pepper
2 minced cloves of garlic
200g ground meat (beef or lamb)
Salt and pepper
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
2 tablespoons of olive oil (for cooking)
Notes: You can use tuna instead of meat if you want. You can also use butter instead of olive oil for cooking. Cinnamon flavor might overwhelm other flavors, so don't add much.
How To Prepare The Dough And Filling for Stuffed Msemen Step By Step
Now that we collected the ingredients, let's start by making the Dough first. It's always better to make the dough first so you can let it rest while you make the filling. This way you'll save time, and ensure the filling will stay warm.
Here's how you make msemen dough:
Step 1: In a large bowl, mix the flour, semolina, salt, sugar, and yeast.
Step 2: Gradually add warm water while mixing to form a soft dough. Pay attention to how much water you're adding so you won't end up with a sticky hydrated dough.
Step 3: Knead for about 10 minutes until the dough becomes smooth and elastic.
Step 4: Coat the dough with vegetable oil or melted butter as a healthier option, then cover with a cloth, and let it rest for about 30 minutes. The yeast is now doing its work.
Let's jump to preparing the Filling while letting the dough rest. Here are the steps to make the filling:
Step 1: In a pan, heat olive oil over medium heat then Add the chopped onion and bell pepper. Start cooking them until softened.
Step 2: Add the minced garlic and cook for another minute. Garlic will release its flavor into the mix fast. It doesn't require much time like other vegetables, that's why we didn't include it in the first step.
Step 3: Add the ground meat and cook until the meat turns brown. As you cook the meat starts breaking it up so it will be easier to mix with other ingredients. Stir in cumin, paprika, turmeric, cinnamon, salt, and pepper. Cook for a few more minutes until everything is well combined.
Step 4: Remove from heat and stir in the chopped parsley and cilantro. Let the filling cool. Adding parsley and cilantro while cooking may cause them to lose some of their flavors. So to preserve their flavors add them after cooking.
Note: If you don't like meat, you can use tuna, but pay attention, canned tuna doesn't have to be cooked. It will be ready after some heating. For a vegan stuffed msemen, skip adding either one of them and simply add the spices to the cooked vegetables.
How To Assemble and Cook The Stuffed Msemen
Now we've done preparing both the dough and the filling. It's time now to start assembling the Msemen. This will involve shaping and filling the msemen then cooking it to reach the final form. Here's how to do it:
Step 1: Divide the dough into small balls, about the size of a golf ball. Coat each ball lightly with oil and put them aside for a moment while you prepare a kneading Surface.
Step 2: Apply olive oil or melted butter on a flat surface. But before you do that please make sure to clean your kneading Surface appropriately.
Step 3: Take your dough balls and Flatten each ball on that flat surface into a thin circle using your hands or a rolling pin. Remember: thin circle, not a square. Msemen is square but we've reached that step yet.
Step 4: Place a spoonful of the filling in the center of the dough circle. Now fold the dough over the filling and start forming a square or a rectangular shape. While working on turning the circle into a square, make sure the filling stays completely enclosed.
Step 5: Heat a griddle or non-stick pan over medium heat. Start cooking each msemen individually for about 3-4 minutes on each side, until it appears golden brown and feels crispy.
And here you go! We've made stuffed Moroccan msemen in simple steps. Serve it warm with a side of Moroccan mint tea for a more Moroccan meal experience. By the way, there are similar meals made the same way but with differences in bread shape, like stuffed batbout and stuffed Moroccan oven bread. We'll post recipes for both snacks soon. stay tuned, and Bon appétit.
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