Makes: Approx 35 fatayer
Prep: Approx 2.5 hours (includes 1.5 hours of the dough resting/proving)
Cooking Time: 25 mins
Tangy, zingy, comforting and oh so tasty, these parcels of joy are great fun to make and a delight to eat. This is a recipe that has been perfected over the years by my (Rose) mother so getting quantities for everything was a lot of fun as she does this very much by eye! After various phone and video calls, we've managed to get all the quantities on paper.
The dough is surprisingly easy to make; you really don't have to be a baker to get this right!
This recipe makes a lot of fatayer so feel free to halve the quantities (though if you're anything like us, you'll get through a lot of them pretty quickly!) They will last a few days in the fridge; the best way to re-heat them is in the oven but the microwave works fine. We love to grate a load of cheese on top when re-heating so it melts all over them - our favourite way to have them! They also freeze really well, so go ahead - make them all!
Ingredients
For the filling:
700g of spinach (ideally not baby spinach)
3-4 tbsp sumak
1 tbsp salt
3-4 lemons
3 tbsp red pepper paste (Aleppo pepper molasses)
4 medium white onions
1/2 cup olive oil
3-4 tbsp cumin
For the Dough:
750g self-raising flour (plus some for dusting)
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp sugar
1 1/2 cups luke-warm water
1/4 cup sunflower oil
Method
1. Wash and dry your spinach. Make sure it's thoroughly dry so if you can, do this the day before and leave them out to dry.
2. Make the dough. Add the flour, sugar and salt to a bowl and slowly incorporate the water whilst mixing until it becomes sticky and all the flour is incorporated.
3. Once it's sticking to your fingers, add the oil and knead for 10-15 minutes until really smooth and fully incorporated. It should feel smooth and bouncy. Form into a ball, add a little sunflower oil onto your hand and smooth it over the surface of the dough ball to lightly cover it
4. Cover the dough with a damp cloth and put aside to prove for 1 to 1.5 hours.
5. In the meantime, prep the filling: roughly chop the spinach, dice the onions and squeeze the lemon
6. In a bowl, mix the diced onions with the 3 tbsp of sumak, juice of 3 lemons, 3 tbsp of cumin and all of the olive oil and red pepper paste until well combined.
7. Add the onion mix to the spinach and make sure the spinach is fully coated. Taste and add more lemon, sumak and cumin to taste - we like it zingy so we tend to use the maximum amount of all the ingredients
8. Check the dough, it should be larger and soft to touch. If you press it with your finger, it should gently bounce back.
9. Pre-heat the oven to 220°C fan (Gas mark 9) and line a baking tray with baking paper. (If you have 2 or 3 that will fit in the oven at the same time, do those too!)
10. Dust a clean surface with flour and tear a section (about a quarter) of the dough and cover the rest with the damp cloth so it doesn't dry out.
11. Section out the dough into roughly 30g balls (don't worry about being too precise!)
12. Use a rolling pin to roll the balls out to 3-4mm thickness. (You don't need to see-through them and you don't want them to be too doughy when cooked - somewhere in the middle is good!)
13. Place approximately 2 tbsp of the filling in the middle. We like them FULL.
14. Fold by pinching the middle together then sealing down one side, then across the others to form a sort of pyramid shape.
15. And repeat! Put them in the oven for approx. 20-25 mins or until they become golden.
16. Once cooked, place them on a wire rack and drizzle with olive oil whilst they're hot. Enjoy!
We'd love to see your creations so tag us if you try these! @Thefoodinstatution
R & J x
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