As you’ll know by now, I am always on the hunt for a cookbook featuring an underrepresented food culture. I have a few Palestinian cookbooks, and I think it’s an area of food that’s come more into the spotlight over the past couple of years thanks to prominent bloggers, but I hadn’t realized until I heard an interview with Yasmin Khan, author of the recently released Zaitoun, how diverse the territory’s food cultures are. She discussed in particular how interesting and unique she found the food in Gaza, an area she wasn’t able to visit. But she worked with the author of The Gaza Kitchen, a book I already happened to own, to do her research and learn the region’s recipes. The Gaza Kitchen has become one of my favorite books.
First off, The Gaza Kitchen contains the recipe to my favorite soup I have ever eaten (and if you’ll take a moment to recall my 2017 jaw surgery aftermath, I have eaten a lot of soups). The recipes generally have simple ingredients but taste very bright and fresh. This post isn’t about that soup, but I’ll be sharing it soon. However, these savory spinach-filled pastries were something I liked almost as much, and I keep a bag in my freezer for quick dinners when I have no energy.
You might be having an internal debate right now, asking yourself if these are actually savory hamentaschen? And, if so, are they Israeli or are they Palestinian? I would say that’s a good question and brings up some important issues around food culture, and whose stuff belongs to whom, and the intermingling of traditions and ingredients and appropriation. I don’t really have the answer, but I know that fatayer are a popular pastry throughout the Middle East. They are often baked without the peek-a-boo filling in the center (and therefore look less like hamantaschen), but the ones in my cookbook looked this way so I followed instructions.
The filling of these pastries is pretty simple- spinach and sumac. The sumac along with some lemon really give them a zippy, bright flavor they would otherwise lack, and the filling really complements the the rich, olive oil-based bread dough that surrounds it. If you’re going to make these, may I suggest a double batch? They freeze beautifully and I look forward to their smell in the oven after a tough day at the office.
Ingredients
- 6 cups flour (preferably bread flour), or a mix of white and wheat flours
- 1 cup powdered milk
- 1 1/2 tablespoons yeast
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 3/4 cup olive oil, warmed
- 1 egg (optional)
- 2 cups warm water, more or less as needed
- 2-3 medium onions, finely chopped
- 2 1/2 lbs. spinach
- 2 teaspoons salt, more for sprinkling
- 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1/8 teaspoon allspice or cinnamon
- 2-4 tablespoons ground sumac
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tablespoons filfil mat'houn (recipe below)
- Juice of one fresh lemon
- 1/2 teaspoon lemon zest
- 1 tablespoon pomegranate molasses (optional)
- 1/2 lb. red chili peppers, stems removed
- 1 1/4 tablespoons salt
- 1/8 cup olive oil
Instructions
- First make the red pepper paste (filfil mat'houn). Pulse the peppers in a food processors or crush them with a mortar and pestle in small batches until finely ground, but not yet a paste. Add salt. Mix well. Pour into containers and cover with a layer of olive oil. You'll need 2 tablespoons for this recipe and can use the rest as a condiment to meats or mixed with feta to eat with flatbread.
- Now make the dough. Knead all the ingredients well by mixer or hand until the dough is elastic and no longer sticky to the touch. Shape into a ball and pat with a little olive oil. Cover and let rise in a draft-free place for 1 1/2 hours or until doubled in volume.
- Preheat the oven to 450°F.
- While the dough is rising, chop the spinach finely and wash well. Sprinkle spinach with some salt, then place in a strainer for 10-15 minutes to get rid of excess moisture. Use a salad spinner if you have one. Transfer to a large skillet or pot on low heat and stir until barely wilted, 30 seconds to a minute. Remove from heat and transfer to a strainer immediately. Drain well, squeezing out any liquid by pressing with the back of a spoon. This step is important to prevent the dough from getting soggy once stuffed. Set aside.
- With your hands, rub the chopped onions with salt, pepper and allspice. Mix well with the spinach, adding sumac, lemon juice, olive oil, filfil mat'houn and lemon zest. Taste the mixture: it should be very tart. Adjust flavor by adding more sumac or a tablespoon or two of pomegranate molasses.
- Separate the dough into golf-ball sized pieces and allow to rest for 10 minutes, covered. Roll out each piece to less than 1/8 inch thickness. In the center of each round, place 1 tablespoon of the spinach mixture. Fold three sides of the circle up to cover the spinach, creating a triangle, and pinch the dough together at the seams, leaving a small opening in the center. Brush the surface of the pastries with an egg wash to assist browning.
- Transfer pastries to a baking sheet and bake for 10-15 minutes, until golden.
Notes
From The Gaza Kitchen
