SPINACH AND FETA HAND PIES
There is something wonderful about a pie and its promise of delicious filling inside and this one is taken from East by West (Page 211).
I’ve gone for a Greek-inspired recipe of spinach, feta and herbs here, but instead of encasing it in the usual wheat pastry I’ve teamed it with a golden chickpea pastry made in a similar way to shortcrust. It brings back memories of ‘rubbing’ flour into butter during one of my only cooking lessons at school. This also works with rice flour, but you need patience as it’s tricky to work with and tends to break, but you can easily patch up the cracks. You can use chard or any of your favourite seasonal greens instead of spinach, but make sure you adjust the cooking times accordingly. Since it’s more time-consuming and fiddly then your average bowl of dal, I like to make this when I have guests — everyone gets their own pastry pie.
INGREDIENTS:
*Makes four large hand pies, perfect with veggies or salad.
FOR THE FILLING
1 tbsp ghee
1/2 small onion or leek, diced
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
300g (6 cups) spinach leaves
2 tbsp parsley, chopped
2 tbsp mint, chopped
1⁄4—1⁄2 tsp ground nutmeg
1⁄4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
75g feta cheese, cut into small cubes or crumbled
FOR THE PASTRY
220g (scant 2 cups) gram flour or 220g (11⁄2 cups) rice flour plus more for dusting
1⁄2 tsp sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
80g unsalted chilled butter
75ml (1⁄3 cup) cold water, plus more if needed
extra-virgin olive oil for brushing
METHOD:
Start with the pastry. Mix the flour, salt and pepper in a bowl. Grate in the butter. Rub the butter into the flour until you reach fine crumbs. Pour in the water, adding more if necessary, until you reach a workable dough. Knead it for a few minutes, then keep at room temperature until you’re ready to use.
Melt the ghee in a frying pan over medium heat. Sauté the onion for about 5—7 minutes, until soft. Add the garlic and cook for another minute. Add the spinach and allow it to cook down for about 5 minutes, until fairly dry. Remove from the heat, leave to cool, then squeeze out any excess water. Place in a bowl and stir through the remaining ingredients, apart from the olive oil. Set aside in the fridge until ready to use.
Preheat the oven to 200°C (fan 180°C/gas mark 6) and line a baking sheet with baking parchment.
Cut the pastry dough into four pieces. Dust a clean work surface with flour, and working with one at a time, press or roll the dough out into a flat disc that’s about 15—18cm (6—7in) across.
Divide the filling evenly across half of each disc (about 3 tablespoons of filling per round), leaving a border around the edge. Fold the other half of the dough over the filling, and use a fork to seal the edges well. Repeat with the remainder of the pies.
Transfer the hand pies to the lined baking sheet. Brush the tops with olive oil and sprinkle with a pinch of sea salt. Bake for 15 minutes, then rotate the baking sheet and bake for another 10—15 minutes until the hand pies are lightly browned on top and around the edges. Cool for a few minutes and serve warm, or allow to cool completely.