Delicious savoury pastries with a cheese and spinach filling. In Israel these are are called borekas and they're served hot with a simple tomato and chilli salsa. They're really easy to make and are great if you've got friends coming over.
Makes 12 borekas
First, wilt the spinach. Place the spinach in a pan over a medium heat and put a lid or a pan over the top to get it steaming. It should only take a few minutes. Take the pan off the heat and leave to cool.
When cool enough to handle, squeeze out the spinach over the sink, either in your hands or in a sieve. Really give it a good squeeze to get as much liquid out as possible.
Crumble the feta and ricotta into a bowl and add the wilted spinach along with a good grinding of black pepper. Crack in one of the eggs and mix it all together.
Roll out the puff pastry into a rectangle about the thickness of a £1 coin. Cut it into squares and dollop a teaspoon of the mixture into the centre of each square (see picture below).
Crack the second egg and place the yolk in a small bowl together with a pinch of salt and mix together. (This will give a gorgeous golden brown glaze to the pastries).
Brush the pastries along 2 edges and fold each square in half to make little triangles. Seal the edges with your fingers - no matter how well you think you've sealed the edges, they will leak.
Lay them on a baking tray that you've lined with a sheet of baking paper or rubbed with a little oil. Brush each of the pastries with the remaining egg yolk and sprinkle with sesame seeds.
Bake in a hot oven (200 - 220C) for 12-15 min. They should be golden brown and sizzling at the edges.
Eat hot with a nice tomato salsa or onion relish!
Any leftover cheese and spinach filling can be used in lots of different ways (dollop on pizza, add to a savoury tart...) - but you really have got to try out these little Mexican beauties that Christian put together - Chilli Rellenos
Some lessons learned...
Makes 12 borekas
- Puff pastry (either a block or pre-rolled - about 350g)
- 200g Feta
- 200g Ricotta
- 200g spinach (frozen works well too and is much cheaper)
- 2 eggs
- Sesame seeds
- salt and pepper
First, wilt the spinach. Place the spinach in a pan over a medium heat and put a lid or a pan over the top to get it steaming. It should only take a few minutes. Take the pan off the heat and leave to cool.
When cool enough to handle, squeeze out the spinach over the sink, either in your hands or in a sieve. Really give it a good squeeze to get as much liquid out as possible.
Crumble the feta and ricotta into a bowl and add the wilted spinach along with a good grinding of black pepper. Crack in one of the eggs and mix it all together.
Roll out the puff pastry into a rectangle about the thickness of a £1 coin. Cut it into squares and dollop a teaspoon of the mixture into the centre of each square (see picture below).
Crack the second egg and place the yolk in a small bowl together with a pinch of salt and mix together. (This will give a gorgeous golden brown glaze to the pastries).
Brush the pastries along 2 edges and fold each square in half to make little triangles. Seal the edges with your fingers - no matter how well you think you've sealed the edges, they will leak.
Lay them on a baking tray that you've lined with a sheet of baking paper or rubbed with a little oil. Brush each of the pastries with the remaining egg yolk and sprinkle with sesame seeds.
Bake in a hot oven (200 - 220C) for 12-15 min. They should be golden brown and sizzling at the edges.
Eat hot with a nice tomato salsa or onion relish!
Any leftover cheese and spinach filling can be used in lots of different ways (dollop on pizza, add to a savoury tart...) - but you really have got to try out these little Mexican beauties that Christian put together - Chilli Rellenos
Some lessons learned...
- "All butter" puff pastry is far better than the cheaper stuff. It really is worth the extra cost.
- You could use the pre-rolled puff pastry - it's super convenient, but costs a little more.
- Frozen spinach works just as well as fresh and is far cheaper. Just make sure you cook it for longer to last all the extra moisture evaporate.
- Keep an eye on them once they're in the oven. They quickly turn from golden brown to lumps of charcoal.