Fatayer Sabanikh
Palestine's spinach tricorns: a soft olive-oil dough folded around wilted spinach, sumac, onion and pine nuts, baked golden.
Overview
A soft yeasted olive-oil dough rises for 45 minutes. The filling: spinach wilts briefly in salted water and is squeezed bone-dry; chopped onion massages with salt to soften and weep; the two combine with sumac, lemon juice, pomegranate molasses, olive oil and toasted pine nuts. The dough divides into 12 balls; each rolls into a 12 cm disc; a spoon of filling sits in the centre; the disc folds into a tricorn (three corners pinched up to meet at the top). Baked at 220°C 15-18 minutes until deep gold.
Ingredients
Dough
- 400 g plain flour
- 1 sachet (7 g) fast-action yeast
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon caster sugar
- 250 ml warm water
- 4 tablespoons olive oil
Filling
- 600 g fresh spinach (washed) - OR 500 g frozen spinach (defrosted, squeezed bone-dry)
- 1 teaspoon salt (for spinach)
- 1 onion (large, very finely diced)
- 1 ½ teaspoons salt (for onion)
- 2 tablespoons sumac
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon pomegranate molasses
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 30 g pine nuts (toasted, optional but traditional)
- 1 teaspoon chilli flakes
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
To finish
- 2 tablespoons olive oil (to brush)
- A sprinkle of sumac
Method
Stage 1 - Dough
- Whisk flour, yeast, salt and sugar in a bowl.
- Pour in warm water and olive oil; mix to a soft dough.
- Knead 8 minutes until smooth and elastic.
- Cover; rise 45 minutes (or until doubled).
Stage 2 - Wilt the spinach
- If using fresh: bring a large pot of well-salted water to a boil.
- Drop spinach in; cook 30 seconds - just wilted.
- Drain; rinse with cold water.
- Squeeze handfuls firmly between your palms until bone-dry. (Wet spinach in the filling = soggy fatayer.) Chop fine.
- If using frozen: defrost; squeeze hard until dry; chop.
Stage 3 - Soften the onion
- Place diced onion in a wide bowl with 1 ½ teaspoons salt.
- Massage with your hands for 1 minute - the onion releases liquid and softens.
- Drain off the liquid (squeeze the onion in a clean tea towel).
Stage 4 - Combine the filling
- In a wide bowl, mix the dried spinach, drained onion, sumac, lemon juice, pomegranate molasses, olive oil, pine nuts, Aleppo pepper and black pepper.
- Mix thoroughly; taste; adjust salt or lemon.
Stage 5 - Shape
- Heat oven to 220°C (200°C fan).
- Line 2 baking trays with paper.
- Knock back the dough; divide into 12 balls.
- Rest 5 minutes.
- Roll each ball into a thin 12 cm disc.
- Place 1 ½ tablespoons of filling in the centre of each.
- Fold the disc into a tricorn: pinch one third of the edge upward to form one side; pinch the second third to form a second side; pinch the third to seal - the result is a three-cornered pyramid with the three seams meeting at the top.
- Press the seams firmly closed - any leakage during baking and you have a flat soggy pie.
- Transfer to the trays.
Stage 6 - Bake
- Brush each fatayer with olive oil.
- Bake 15-18 minutes until deep golden brown.
Stage 7 - Finish
- Sprinkle with a little sumac.
- Eat warm or at room temperature.
Notes
- Bone-dry spinach: Wet spinach in the filling makes wet fatayer. Squeeze each handful firmly - you should be able to get a clear handful of dry spinach with no drip.
- Seal the seams hard: A loose tricorn opens in the oven and the filling escapes. Pinch firmly with floured fingers.
- Sumac is the dish: Without sumac (the tart purple-red Levantine spice), this is just a spinach pie. Sumac is what makes it Palestinian fatayer. Buy at any Middle Eastern shop.
Storage
- Best within 4 hours of baking.
- Refrigerate 3 days; reheat at 200°C 5 minutes.
- Freeze cooked 2 months; reheat from frozen at 200°C 12 minutes.
- Filling alone refrigerates 2 days.
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