These pies are so nostalgic for me. They feature on almost every Lebanese family table and each family makes them slightly differently. Of course, my Lebanese grandmother made the best ones out of everyone we knew. They will be crunchy straight from the oven, but the traditional way to eat them is to let them cool completely on a rack, then store in an airtight container until the pastry softens, about 1 hour. They will keep for up to four days at room temperature, but they never last that long!
Makes: 20
=R1=
Servings
Prep time
Cook time
Recipe
Ingredients
- 3 cups plain flour
- 1¼ tsp dry active yeast
- 1½ tsp salt
- ¼ cup olive oil, plus extra for brushing
- 1 cup lukewarm water
-
- Filling
- 5 tbsp olive oil
- 1 medium onion, finely diced
- 1 tbsp sumac
- Juice 1 lemon
- 350g baby spinach leaves
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp white pepper
Method
- Place flour, yeast and salt in large bowl. Make well in centre and add olive oil. Add warm water and mix with fingertips to form dough. Transfer to flour-dusted bench and knead for 10 mins until smooth. Divide into four balls and place on tray. Cover with damp teatowel and leave to rise for 1 hour.
- Meanwhile, place olive oil, onion, sumac and lemon juice in large bowl and mix. Add spinach leaves and salt and pepper. Mix with hands to thoroughly coat spinach in dressing. Cover and leave until dough is ready.
- Heat the oven to 200ºC. Divide each dough ball into 5 balls so you have 20 balls. Roll one out thinly into large circle. Top with heaped tbsp of spinach mixture. Fold two sides together to form point, like end of cone. Then fold other two sides into centre to form triangle shape. Pinch all seams firmly individually to seal. Place on tray and cover with damp teatowel.
- Repeat with remaining dough and spinach mixture. You may need to do 2 trays of 10 depending on your tray and oven size.
- Brush all over with olive oil and bake on bottom shelf for 10 mins until golden-brown. Allow to cool on rack then store in airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days.
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