Levantine cuisine · Dough, Pasta & Rice

Fatayer bi Sabanekh

Triangular yeast dough pockets filled with spinach, onions, and sumac, baked golden brown and seasoned with lemon.

Ingredients · for 6 servings

• 500g flour
• 1/2 cube fresh yeast
• 250ml lukewarm water
• 6 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp sugar
• 800g spinach
• 2 onions
• 2 tbsp sumac
• 1 lemon
• 3 tbsp pine nuts
• Salt, pepper

Instructions

1. Stir the yeast with the lukewarm water and sugar, let foam for 10 min., then knead into a smooth dough with the flour, 3 tbsp olive oil, and 1 tsp salt, and let rise covered for 60 min. until doubled in size.
2. Wash the spinach, chop it finely, salt it generously, and let sit for 15 min.; then squeeze it as dry as possible by hand – a wet filling will burst the pockets during baking.
3. Finely dice the onions and mix into the spinach with the remaining olive oil, sumac, the juice of the lemon, pepper, and the pine nuts; season generously.
4. Divide the dough into 16 balls, roll each out on a floured surface into a round about 12cm across, and place 1 heaped tbsp of filling in the center.
5. Pull the edge up at three points and pinch together into a firm triangle, sealing the seams well, and place the pockets on a parchment-lined baking sheet.
6. Bake at 200°C for 18–22 min. until the fatayer are evenly golden brown, brush with a little olive oil while still hot, and serve lukewarm.