✔️Variations
- Switch out spinach with silverbeet greens. Do not use the stalk. This is something I do quite a lot, the taste is equally amazing.
- Switch out the spinach with purslane, similar to this purslane pocket recipe.
Tips
- Filling - Ensure spinach filling is as dry as possible. A soggy filling will result in the pies open up during baking. Once the filling has been mixed together, place it into a colander with a bowl underneath it, this will help release any juice. Keep the filling in the colander whilst using it to make the pies. Chop up the contents of the filling small. Chunky filling will be harder to handle when trying to seal the dough. Adding salt to taste - I recommend tasting your filling.
- Moisture - Keep all moisture to a minimum. Do not allow any moisture on the dough whilst handling. Moisture will result in the pies not closing at the seams.
- Dough - Whilst working with the dough, keep it covered under a tea towel or cling wrap to ensure it doesn’t dry out. I prefer to measure out individual dough balls rather than cutting out the dough with a dough cutter 10cm (approx. 4 inches) wide. See video.
- Rolling - use fingers to initially pat out dough into a circle, then roll out into a larger circle. Dough should be approx. 2.5mm thick (approx. 1 inch)
- Salting spinach - allowing spinach to sit in salt for 10 minutes helps to expel moisture. Squeeze out as much juice as possible out of the spinach.
- Creating spinach triangles - fold two ends of the circle dough, and pinch off centre about a ⅓ of the way, then fold the next side. This will create an even triangle. See video.
- Storing - whilst vegan Lebanese spinach pies are best eaten immediately, these can be stored in an air-tight container in the fridge for a day or two. The pastry may soften further, but they still taste amazing!
- Oven - should be really hot, you could bake these at 230C (440F) until golden (my oven atm is not reliable so I stuck to the 220C mark - it's important to note each oven varies)
N.B., measurements used are Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml.