There’s a frozen, spinach and feta hand held pie that I absolutely love. I don’t buy it very often, as it costs about $3.50 -$4.00 each.
I’ve been fooling around with making a homemade version, and I’m quite pleased!
Start off by making a yogurt dough using nonfat or lowfat plain yogurt, greek style or regular–both work fine.
To the yogurt, I added part whole wheat flour and part unbleached all purpose flour (100% whole wheat flour was simply too gritty for my taste), olive oil, baking powder, sugar and sea salt.
Mix it all up then cover it loosely and let sit for 20-30 minutes.
Cook a 10 oz. box of frozen spinach according to the package directions. Let cool and then squeeze to remove as much liquid as possible.
You can use fresh, cooked spinach too, but it was just easier to use the frozen. This recipe uses about 3/4 c. cooked spinach, squeezed dry.
Saute some chopped onions in a little oil until they start to caramelize a little. Cool a bit.
For the filling, add the onions to the spinach, and mix in lemon juice, salt, eggs, flour and feta cheese.
Cut the dough into 8 wedges to portion out.
Roll each dough wedge out on a floured surface into about a 5-6″ square or circle.
Heap 1/8th of the filling onto the middle of the rolled dough.
Lift up one side of the dough and pull it over the filling, matching the dough edges as best as possible.
When I make rectangular shaped pies, I like to trim the edges to keep the pies looking neat.
Though sometimes it’s just easier to make the pies into half moon shapes. They can be easily shaped using cupped hands as you press the edges together to seal.
Place the pies onto a greased baking sheet. Press the edges together with the tines of a fork to seal.
Prick the pie tops a few times with a fork to release steam during the baking.
Bake at 375 degrees for about 13-15 minutes.
Sometimes when I’m rushed or feeling lazy, I use a dry, whole grain baking mix like this and simply add the yogurt and a couple of tablespoons of oil to it.
It’s simple and fast. The oats look pretty in this dough using the Trader Joe’s multigrain mix.
Be careful if using a mix that is labelled as a “baking and pancake” mix. Some of them contain maple flavoring, which you don’t want in this savory pie.
Brush the tops with a little melted butter as soon as you take them out of the oven.
Yum! They made a nice, warm after school snack for Laurel and Quill.
Kallie happened to stop by and happily offered to be a taste tester too. =)
- 1 c. whole wheat flour
- 2-3/4 c. unbleached all purpose flour + extra for rolling out dough
- 2 T. baking powder
- 1-1/2 tsp. sea salt
- 1 T. sugar
- 1-1/2 c. plain yogurt
- 4 T. olive oil
- 1 (10 oz) box frozen spinach, cooked per box directions, cooled and squeezed dry
- 1 c. diced onions
- 1 T. oil
- 2 eggs
- 3 T. lemon juice
- 6 T. unbleached all purpose flour
- ½ tsp. sea salt
- 4 oz. crumbled feta cheese
- For the top:
- 1 T. butter, melted
- For the dough: Whisk together flours, baking powder, sugar and salt in a large mixing bowl.
- Mix oil into yogurt in a small bowl. Add to the dry ingredients and mix until a dough forms. Loosely cover and allow to sit for 20-30 minutes.
- For the filling: Heat oil in a non-stick frying pan on medium high heat. Add onions. Cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until onions are soft and slightly caramelized. Remove to a bowl and cool. Add remaining filling ingredients. Mix well.
- Making the pies: Cut the dough into 8 wedges to portion. Sprinkle dough lightly with a little extra all purpose flour, then roll each piece out on a floured surface into a 5-6' square or circle. Place ⅛th of the filling onto the middle of the rolled out dough. Lift up one side of the dough and pull it over the filling, matching the edge to the other side. Press edges down to seal. Repeat for each piece of dough.
- Use a knife to trim the edges of rectangular shaped pies to neaten them if desired. Use a cupped hand to shape the egdes of half moon shaped pies. Place pies onto greased baking sheet. Use the tines of a fork to press down all sealed pie edges, and also to prick the tops of each pie a few times. Bake at 400 degrees for 13-15 minutes, until pies are golden and cooked through. Remove from oven and brush tops with melted butter.
