Pastirma Buns | Kayseri-Style Turkish Pastries with Pastirma and Cheese

Use the back of a knife to scrape the red fenugreek paste from both sides of the pastirma slices; do not discard the scraped paste, as you can use it in another dish if you like. Cut the slices without paste into 1 cm squares. The paste burns and turns bitter in the oven, so leave it off the pastries.

Divide the risen dough into 16 balls and press each by hand into a 10 cm round. Place one 5 ml measure of grated kashar cheese and several pieces of pastirma in the center. Bring the edges together in the middle to seal, pinching the seam firmly with your fingers. Arrange seam-side down on a parchment-lined baking pan, cover, and leave for the second rise.

Brush the risen pastries with beaten egg yolk and sprinkle with sesame seeds.

Bake in an oven preheated to 190°C / 375°F for 25 minutes. They are done when the tops are deep golden brown and melted kashar begins to ooze from the edges. Let stand on the pan for 5 minutes and serve warm; the aroma of the pastirma is strongest while warm.