Spinach Pies

Spinach and feta being a classic flavor combination (for good reason!), spanakopita, otherwise known as Greek spinach pie, is one of my favorite ways to enjoy it. However. Actually making the dish is not exactly my idea of a good time since it's fairly labor intensive what with the whole phyllo dough thing. Don't get me wrong... I've made it before; I just don't enjoy the process. On the other hand, puff pastry is MUCH easier to work with than phyllo is, and you get that same light and crispy texture to the final dish which makes me just as happy as the original. Now, I try to keep a package of puff pastry in my freezer at all times because it makes for great savory pies, appetizers, AND desserts... but that's another post.

Spinach Pies

Ingredients:
1 Tbs. olive oil
6 ounces of spinach (fresh or frozen, dealers choice)
1 shallot, minced
2 Tbs. sun dried tomatoes, diced
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. dried parsley
1/2 tsp. lemon pepper (or plain pepper)
pinch of nutmeg
pinch of red pepper flakes
3 ounces of feta, crumbled
1 Tbs. breadcrumbs
1 sheet of frozen puff pastry, defrosted
1 egg, beaten with 1 tsp. of water

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

In a large saute pan over medium-low heat, cook the spinach, shallot, sun dried tomatoes, and all spices in olive oil until the spinach is wilted and most of the moisture has evaporated, about 6-8 minutes. Remove from the heat to a bowl before stirring in the feta and breadcrumbs. Set aside to cool.

On a lightly floured surface, unfold the puff pastry and cut into four equal squares. Spoon 2 tablespoons of the spinach mixture onto one side of each square. Using a pastry brush (or your finger), brush egg wash on 2 sides of each square. Fold the pastry squares in half, diagonally, into triangles. Crimp the edges of the triangles together with the tines of a fork, making sure the edges are sealed to prevent the filling from oozing out as the pies bake. Transfer the pies to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper then brush the tops with more egg wash. Bake at 400 degrees for 14-15 minutes, until the pies are puffed up and the tops are golden brown.

Enjoy!

Puff Pastry Pockets

Given that I’m not much of a baker, I must say that I've been slowly making my peace with puff pastry and phyllo dough, learning just how versatile they can be. Starting out slow, I’ve been experimenting with simple pockets, stuffing them with both savory and sweet fillings. I’m learning that they’re a great way to use up leftovers in the fridge or pull together a few pantry basics. Here’s an example of each… my favorites so far:


Ingredients:

1 sheet of puff pastry, defrosted (I buy the frozen kind that comes 2 sheets to a box)
chicken breast, cooked and shredded (those handy dandy prepackage chicken strips are great as well if you don’t have leftover chicken already in the fridge)
fresh spinach (or the good old standby of frozen chopped spinach that’s been thawed and drained)
1 Tbs. olive oil
1 small shallot, diced finely
3-4 dried figs, diced (or you can substitute 2 tsp. of fig preserves if you have it)
1 Tbs. balsamic vinegar (omit if you’re using fig preserves)
1 oz. fontina cheese, diced or shredded (provolone is really good here as well)
pinch of nutmeg
salt and pepper to taste
1 egg + a splash of water, beaten (this is an egg wash in case you didn’t know)

*For the sweet version, all you need is 2 squares of dark chocolate (I always have Ghiradelli dark chocolate squares in the house) and 3-4 dried apricots, diced.
Before starting on the filling, I take one sheet of the puff pastry out of the freezer and loosely wrap it in plastic wrap before sticking it in the fridge to defrost for at least 30-45 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees, and prepare a baking sheet by lining it with foil or parchment paper for easy clean up.

If you’re using fig preserves, go ahead and skip to the next step. If not, what you want to do first is to combine the diced figs and balsamic vinegar in a small microwave safe bowl and heat on high for 45 seconds. Set aside and allow the figs to plump up in the vinegar while cooling.

In the meantime, in a small sauté pan over medium-low heat, cook the shallot in olive oil for 2-3 minutes, until softened. Add in the spinach, nutmeg, salt, and pepper, and cook for another 2-3 minutes until wilted. Remove from the heat and cool slightly.

Now, once you remove the puff pastry from the fridge, you need to work fairly quickly to prevent it from drying out and cracking so I like to make sure I have everything set up and ready to roll. I know this sounds like a lot of steps for something that I said was easy, and really, it is… I promise. So here’s what you need to do next: Lightly flour your work surface (I just use the bare counter since I don’t have a board big enough to work on) and lightly pat out the dough into a rough square. I suppose you could use a rolling pin, but hello?!, remember me?, the non-baker? Anyway, once the dough is to the desired shape, I use a pizza wheel to evenly cut it into 4 squares. Keeping in mind that each square will be folded diagonally to form a triangle, put a small amount of the drained figs and shredded chicken in the center of 2 of the squares, followed by the spinach mixture, and a sprinkle of fontina cheese. Make sure to leave a ¼ inch border and go easy on the total amount of filling so it doesn’t explode out of the pastry. Brush 2 of the 4 edges with the egg wash and then gently fold the dough in half, over the filling, to form a triangle. The dough should be pliable enough to kind of squish the filling into one evenly distributed layer. Crimp the sealed edges with your fingers or the tines of a fork to ensure it sticks together.

On the remaining 2 squares of dough, break up 1 square of the chocolate (I have to resist the urge to be decadent and use 2 squares of chocolate per pastry instead of just 1) on each and sprinkle with the diced apricots. Again, brush 2 sides with the egg wash and fold in half, diagonally, to form 2 more triangles.

Transfer all 4 puff pastry pockets to the prepared baking sheet, brush the tops with egg wash, and sprinkle a pinch of coarse sea salt on each one. To differentiate the 2 savory pockets from the sweet, you may also want to sprinkle on some black pepper or dried basil. A sprinkle of cinnamon on the sweet pockets would be pretty tasty as well. Bake for 12-14 minutes, until the pastry has puffed up and is golden brown and delicious. These are excellent straight from the oven and I’ve discovered that they are just as good when reheated in the toaster oven at work the next day.

Enjoy!