Fattayer Sabanegh- Spinach Pies

Keeping to my "L" club theme of Lebanese cuisine, I decided to make another favorite. See, when I think of eating Lebanese food, I can't just have one meal. It needs to include all the mezze, or small dishes to go with it. I love these pies, the tang of the lemon in the spinach combined with the slight crunch of the pine nuts make them heavenly. Think of these as a Lebanese calzone, without cheese or tomato. Although, using this basic ajeen (dough) for a calzone might not be a bad idea.

Fatayer Sabanegh

Basic Ajeen (savory dough)

4-5 cups flour

1 package yeast

2 tsp. salt

2 tsp. sugar

1/3 cup warm water (100-110 degrees)

1/4 cup olive oil

1 1/2 cups water at room temp (use more if needed)

2 tsp. olive oil

3 Tbs. melted butter

Add yeast and sugar to a small bowl and pour in water and mix together. Wait about 10 minutes until yeast mixture starts to foam. In another large bowl add flour and mix in salt. Make a well and add olive oil and yeast mixture. Add remaining water and mix with a wooden spoon until loosely combined. transfer to a floured surface and knead the dough until elastic.

Put back into clean large bowl that has been oiled with the 2 tsp. of olive oil. Cover with plastic wrap, then a kitchen towel and let rise for about an hour or until double in size. When doubled, punch down and separate into balls a little smaller than a baseball. Set aside for 15 minutes and let rise slightly.

Filling:

3 boxes frozen spinach, (thaw and place in cheese cloth and squeeze as much juice as possible)

1 large onion finely chopped

2 garlic cloves minced

2 Tbs. sumac

2 tsp. salt

2 tsp. pepper

1/4 cup lemon juice

2 Tbs. olive oil

1/2 cup pine nuts

Heat a large skillet over med. heat. Add olive oil and let heat a couple minutes. Add onions and cook about 5 minutes. Add pine nuts and cook until toasted. Add the rest of the ingredients and cook about 5 minutes more. Set aside to cool.

Fill the pastry:

Take ball with floured hands and pat into a circle. Roll with rolling pin until fairly thin.

Add filling and pinch to make an isosceles triangle. Bake at 375 for 30 minutes. Brush with butter after 15 minutes to make it shine. Take a Tbs. or more of filling and put on top of dough. Since you are making a triangle I suggest you put the filling in the shape of a triangle as well. Pinch together to make an isosceles triangle and set aside and cover so they don't dry out.

Bake at 375 for 30 minutes. Brush with butter after 15 minutes to make it shine.