Turkish Spiced Beef Buns (Poğaça) with Muhammara

Prepare the dough

1. In a stand mixer bowl, combine milk, water, yeast and sugar. Stir with a whisk and allow yeast to bloom for 5 minutes.
2. Add in oil, salt, and egg whites and mix on speed 1 for 1 minute.
3. Add the flour and mix on speed 2 for 5 minutes, occasionally scraping down the sides until all the flour is incorporated.
4. Cover the bowl with clingfilm and allow to proof for 1 hour or until double in size. Ruby’s tip: wrap the bowl in a tea towel and leave in a warm place to speed up the proofing process.

Prepare the filling

1. Preheat a non-stick pan on medium-low heat. Roughly dice your onions. Melt the butter in the pan and add the onions, stirring occasionally.
2. When the onions are translucent and starting to become golden in colour, add your minced beef. Turn the heat to medium-high.
3. Using your spoon, stir and break the mince apart until they are small pieces and evenly browning, for about 10 minutes.
4. Add in all your spices and cook for a further 5 minutes, then set the pan aside to cool.

Start the dip and prepare the buns

1. Preheat oven to 200°C fan-forced. Lightly coat your capsicums and chilli with olive oil and place in a baking dish into the oven. Set a timer for 30 minutes. The capsicums will be ready when they are blackened on the outside. Once cooked, remove and place into a bowl with clingfilm on top. Leave the oven on for your buns, again at 200°C fan-forced.
2. Generously flour your work bench and pour the dough out. The dough will be sticky to the touch, so cover with as much flour as you need to make handling easier.
3. Portion the dough out to golf-ball sizes, or about 35g. Using your hands, press the dough out to a flat circular shape. With the dough cupped in one hand, take ½ a tablespoon of filling and put it into the middle. Gently fold the outer perimeter of the dough inward to the middle and pinch-twist to seal. This will prevent any juices leaking out of the buns.
4. Fill all your dough, rest on a baking tray and cover with a tea towel for 30 minutes.

Make the muhammara dip

1. Peel the skin off your capsicums and chilli peppers, removing as many seeds as possible, and put into a food processor.
2. Add in remaining ingredients and blend until smooth. Spread onto a plate and garnish with a drizzle of olive oil and some crushed walnuts.

Finish the buns

1. Mix milk and egg yolks and brush the buns. Sprinkle sesame seeds over and bake for 7-10 minutes or until golden. Serve warm with muhammara dip.