Lebanese Spinach Pies (Fatayer Bi Sabenekh) Recipe

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Lebanese Spinach Pies (Fatayer Bi Sabenekh) Recipe

These Lebanese Spinach Pies will give you an authentic taste with the easiest homemade dough and perfect spinach filling that's tangy and incredibly delicious!

Course Appetizer, Bread,

Cuisine Arabian

Keyword fatayer, spinach pies

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes

Dough resting time 1 hour

Total Time 1 hour 40 minutes

Servings people

Calories 112kcal

Author Muna Kenny

Ingredients

THE FILLING

¼ cup roasted pine nuts
1 medium onion finely chopped
¼ teaspoon black pepper
½ teaspoon coriander powder
1 teaspoon paprika
1 tablespoon sumac
2 minced garlic
2 tablespoon lemon juice
400 gm spinach chopped fresh or thawed
2 ½ tablespoon olive oil
¼ teaspoon salt

THE DOUGH

2 ½ cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoon oil
2 tablespoon melted unsalted butter
½ cup warm water
½ cup warm milk
1 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoon dry yeast
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder

Instructions

MAKING THE DOUGH

In a large mixing bowl, add the water, milk, sugar, and yeast, mix all these ingredients well.
Sift in the flour with salt and baking powder. Knead the dough for 3 minutes.
Add in the oil and butter and knead until the dough is soft and that will take around 10 minutes if kneading with your hands, and 7 minutes if using a stand mixer.
Lightly oil a bowl and place the dough in it, cover properly and let the dough rise for an hour in a warm place.

MAKING THE FILLING

In a hot pan, add the olive oil and onion. Sauté the onion until translucent. Add the garlic and stir for a few seconds.
Now it’s time to add the thawed spinach. Stir to incorporate with the onion and garlic.
Turn off the heat and add all the spices and salt. Mix well with the spinach. Add the pine nuts and lemon juice, mix until well combined while the heat is still off.
Let the filling comes to room temperature before using it as a filling.

ASSEMBELING THE FATAYER

Form 45gm balls from the dough.
Add a cup of flour in a medium plate. Place a ball from the dough in the flour and press it down and to the side with your hand to spread the dough to around 5 inches. Transfer the spread out dough to the working surface.
Take a tablespoon and a half from the filling and place it in the middle of the spread-out dough. Bring the left and right side of the dough and pinch 2 and half inches from the top to seal. Pull the bottom part up and pinch with the already sealed part to form a triangle shape. Make sure to pinch all the side properly like shown in the video.
After closing the fatayer, place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Brush the fatayer with olive oil and bake them in a preheated oven of 200C – 392F for 16 Minutes.
If your oven do not distribute the heat evenly, the fatayer won’t turn golden, so turn off the oven after baking for 13 minutes, then turn on the broiler and bake for 5 minutes. Keep an eye on the fatayer and rotate the baking sheet after two minutes, this way the fatayer will get even golden color.
Place the fatayer on a cooling rack. For more flavor, lightly brush the fatayer with melted butter and allow it to cool completely.

To Store the Fatayer

Place the filled and raw fatayer in a Ziplock bag making sure that the pies do not touch, freeze for up to 2 months. To bake the frozen fatayer, preheat the oven to 200C – 392F and bake them for 20 to 22 minutes. You don’t have to thaw the fatayer before baking.
To store baked fatayer, place them in a Ziplock bag after they have cooled completely and freeze for up to 2 months.
You can also store the baked fatayer in the fridge in an airtight container for 5 days.

Video

Notes

You can use fresh spinach too in this recipe but, be it fresh or frozen spinach, make sure to squeeze as much moisture from it or the pie will turn out soggy, and the moisture may open the pie while baking.
In my house, we like the pies to have a bread-like texture, fluffy and light, but you can make smaller balls and spread it thin for a crispy texture.
Make sure to add sumac and never skip it, Sumac gives a great flavor to the filling.
Do not use whole wheat flour in this recipe the dough will turn out dense.
Taste the lemon juice before adding it to the dish, if there is bitterness in the juice it will ruin the taste of the filling.
If the filling is too dry add two teaspoons of olive oil.
You can use crushed walnuts instead of pine nuts, make sure to roast them first.
Use warm water and milk to activate the yeast and help the dough rise.
The way I made the fatayer is how we like it in my house, but you might like the filling and decide to fill the fatayer with more spinach filling. In this case, double the amount of filling.

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