Spinach and feta pastries

Instead of the usual filo pastry casing, an earthy wholewheat crust is used to enclose the fragrant spinach and feta filling of these pastries.

Spinach and feta pastries Credit: One World Kitchen

• makes

  12

• prep

  20 minutes

• cook

  35 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

Dough

• 1 ¼ tsp dry fast-acting yeast
• ¼ tsp sugar
• 1 cup (250 ml) lukewarm water + ½ cup (125 ml) water, if needed
• 1 ¾ cup whole wheat flour
• 1 ½ cup all-purpose flour
• ¾ tsp salt
• 2 tbsp (40 ml) olive oil

Filling

• 2 ½ cups fresh chopped spinach. 
• 3 ½ tbsp olive oil
• ½ tsp cinnamon
• ¼ tsp nutmeg
• 1 tbsp sumac
• 2 medium onions, chopped
• 1 cup crumbled goat feta cheese
• Juice of 1 lemon
• 1 tsp lemon zest
• Ground black pepper

Rising time: 2 hours

Instructions

1. Pour the yeast and sugar into the lukewarm water and stir. Cover and set aside for a few minutes, until a foam appears on the surface, indicating that the yeast is active.
 
2. Add flours and salt to a large bowl and mix. Make a well in the centre of the flour and then pour in the yeast water and olive oil. Mix the ingredients together to make a dough. The dough should be soft but not sticky. If needed, add more warm water. Knead the dough for a few minutes and then form into a large ball. 
 
3. Place dough back in the large bowl and cover with plastic wrap or a damp dish towel. Set aside in a warm place until it rises to double its size, about 1 to 2 hours.
 
4. Meanwhile, prepare the filling. Place the spinach in a saucepan and cook for a few minutes over medium-low heat until wilted. Allow to cool and then squeeze spinach dry of excess liquid and place in a large bowl.
 
5. Heat olive oil in a saucepan over medium-low heat and add the onions. Cook until onions are soft, stirring occasionally. Add cinnamon, nutmeg and sumac and stir. Cook until fragrant, then remove from heat and set aside.
 
6. Preheat oven to 230C (450F).
 
7. Lightly grease a few baking trays with olive oil. On a surface lightly dusted with flour, thinly roll out the dough. Using the rim of an overturned cup or a pastry cutter, cut dough into rounds. Once finished, if you have a lot of excess dough between the rounds you cut, you can move those rounds aside and roll out the dough again and form more rounds.
 
8. Add onion mixture, feta cheese, lemon juice, and lemon zest to bowl of spinach. Stir to combine. Season with pepper.
 
9. Spoon a generous amount of filling into the centre of one of the rounds. Starting at the top of the round, grasp opposing edges with both hands and fold to meet in the middle, so it resembles a burrito. Pinch together where the two edges meet to close tightly. Fold the bottom edge up to meet the other two and pinch together where they meet at the top to form a triangle. Take some extra time to make sure you’ve tightly pinched the top together and that no filling is spilling out. 
10. Place the turnover on the greased baking sheet. Brush with olive oil.
 
11. Continue until all the turnovers are formed.
 
12. Bake in oven for 17-20 minutes, or until they are golden brown.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.