Food is one of the things my family misses most of Montreal. Cheese Pie Halloumi cheese (V) $ 4.00 $ 4.00 Spinach Triangle Spinach marinated in lemon, vegetable oil, onion and mixed spices. Make a well in the center and add 7 tablespoons (100 g) of the diced butter to the well. Soak the akawi cheese in a bowl of cold water for at least 30 minutes to let out some the salt. Condiments include cheese, lemon juice, and/or a hot sauce. Rub the softened butter into the flour with your fingers until well mixed. ( Log Out /  Lebanese Spinach Pie Recipe written by Christie Connelly ,March 27, 2017 vegetarian vegan dinner Credit: Christie Connelly T hese pies are so nostalgic for me. If there is one pastry item that deserves a standing ovation from the Lebanese kitchen, it is sfeeha (pronounced s-f-ee-ha with the “a” like apple). When my mom or I visit, we arrange a rendez-vous with our fatayer supplier, a small hole-in-the-wall establishment run by middle eastern octogenarians who speak little English. Change ), You are commenting using your Twitter account. Repeat the process with the other half of the dough, then with the scraps that have been kneaded together and left to rest for a few minutes before rolling out. 3. put to soak in cold water. I can picture the old wrinkled hands busily kneading dough in the back room, the smell of anise and pita bread wafting out into the chilly streets, and the sound of a woman’s voice on the radio singing beautifully in Arabic. Reprinted with permission from FEAST copyright 2018 by Anissa Helou. *Akkawi cheese -This is a semi-fresh white cheese used to make the Lebanese Sweet Cheese “Pie”. Bake each sheet for about 12 minutes to a golden color. But if 1. Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email (just remember to check your junk mail, as you'll receive a confirmation email first). Chop the pastry into pieces 1/2 inch (1 cm) long and transfer to a large skillet. 3. There is an ongoing debate about where kunafah, a sweet cheese “pie” usually eaten for breakfast, originated. https://dinas-kitchen.com/.../fatayer-bi-jibneh-cheese-pies Grease a 9-inch (23 cm) round baking dish with the remaining 1 tablespoon (15 g) butter. To the uninitiated, these cheeses pies – or fatayer (pronounced, “fat-eye-ah”) – look no more impressive than miniature pizzas without the pepperoni, though I assure you they are one of the most coveted foods to the members of my family. Get Lebanese Meat-Stuffed Pitas (Arayes) Recipe from Food Network Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. In a food processor, combine the onions, garlic, … Form the dough back into a ball and lightly coat with a little oil. Add the yeast mixture to the flour, along with an additional 1 cup of warm water. It's a community of like-minded individuals who love good food, good conversation and kitchen companionship. What is sfeeha baalbeckiya? I’ve included a lot of their favourite recipes on this site, as well as a few of my own that have become my staples over the years. The pot pie is the closest meat pie variation and I’m not sure that counts, does it? This entry was posted on Saturday, March 12th, 2011 at 8:44 pm and tagged with. Remove from heat and stir in toasted pine nuts, yogurt and lemon juice. Use a thermometer to ensure the water is 100 degrees F, then sprinkle the yeast on top. Change ). Fatayer (Lebanese spinach pie) 50 min Fatayer are small savoury Middle Eastern pies that can be filled with mince meat or spinach. Some claim Turkey as its country of origin, others swear it is Palestine, and others claim it is from Syria. Place over low heat, then, with your fingers, slowly rub the melting butter into the pastry until it is well coated and completely crumbled. There isn’t enough research for us to tell for sure, but what is certain is that there are two main types of kunafah. If you cannot source it, use mozzarella made with cow’s milk as it is less wet than buffalo mozzarella, and make sure you pat it dry before using. Don’t worry about the Velveeta being difficult to break or cut into pieces; you’ll be squishing this into a paste, so aesthetics won’t really matter. Baked Sweet Potatoes with Maple Crème Fraîche, Donate today for as little as $5.00 a month. 1 active dry yeast (2 1/4 tsp) 1/2 cup warm water (100 degrees F/38 degrees C) 1 tsp sugar. Sfeeha are what meat pie dreams are made of. Like my more famous namesake, the kid on the cereal commercial from the early 80′s, I had an ability to eat just about anything and “like it.” Use labneh as a spread on bagels, as a dip for your favorite fruit and vegetables, or to flavor an omelet. These little Lebanese spinach pies–or fatayar–are a beloved Lebanese treat. 1. Fatayers can also be filled with meat (lamb fatayer is traditional. 3/4 cup shredded strong cheddar cheese. Serve warm with a squeeze of lemon juice for an extra kick or some plain yogurt / Purslane Yogurt Salad on the side. NOTE: Spread the cheese slices over the pastry before cooking and place the round baking dish over low heat. Which do you think will be the GOAT? Lightly grease two large baking sheets with oil and place the sfeeha on the greased baking sheets, don’t crowd the sheets. Also the Lebanese version has no coloring. Mine took exactly 12 minutes. Place on a parchment or silicone lined baking sheet. The cheese is cut into even squares and preserved in salted water. Leave a slight edge of dough showing around the circle. My mom and I have come across this recipe for fatayer, though it isn’t quite how I remember my Sito making it. Spread the shredded pastry across the dish in an even layer, pressing down hard with your hands. My name is Mike and even though I’m not always a gentleman, it’s safe to say I am in love with food. ( Log Out /  It tastes better than pizza. Take the pastry out of the oven and spread the cheese slices evenly over it. Add ground meat, onions, salt, pepper, cinnamon and allspice to the pan and cook until meat is browned – about 8-10 minutes. Pour a little sugar syrup over the pastry and serve hot, with more syrup on the side. PrairieHarpy's Slow Cooked Pumpkin Butter - No Sugar Added Having this simmer for several hours in the slow cooker i will very often use english muffins for my dough. Change ), You are commenting using your Google account. Place 2-3 tbsp of the cheese mixture on each round dough, spreading them out of even thickness on each circle. Create a free website or blog at WordPress.com. The Lebanese version is known as kunafah mafrukah (meaning “rubbed”), because the strands of kataifi are buttered, then rubbed and rubbed until they become like fluffy breadcrumbs. Each week, The Splendid Table brings you stories that expand your world view, inspire you to try something new and show how food brings us together. I hope you find something here that you like. 1 cup warm water. It is fairly simple to prepare and all you need is to buy kataifi fresh or frozen from a Middle Eastern store. We moved from Montreal to the west coast, where there seems to be only 12 people of Lebanese descent, so finding a Lebanese restaurant nearby would be a miracle. 4. *Akkawi cheese -This is a semi-fresh white cheese used to make the Lebanese Sweet Cheese “Pie”. Fatayer filling It is important to dehydrate the spinach first by salting them for a bit before you squeeze out all the excess moisture. My mom and I have a frozen stash of fatayer that we hoard away in our freezers, as our stock doesn’t get replenished often. According to several reputable source, there are two really good places to purchase Lebanese Pies in the National Capital Region. In kunafah Nabulsiyah, from Palestine, the kataifi pastry— called “hair” pastry because it is made in very thin, long strands—is colored red and used as is. I blame my Lebanese heritage, my large Lebanese nose (all the better for smelling with) and exposure over the past few years to some exquisite ethnic cooking styles and cuisine, as well as to some stunning, inspiring cooks who are family or friends. Add the egg, flour and spices (don’t use the sesame seeds yet). This recipe is with a spinach and goats cheese filing. To save time, you could substitute with fresh thin-crust pizza dough. Let sit for 10-15 minutes. 2. Your family will love this! Today, we're figuring out which cheese will brie the best on pie. 3/4 cup (180 ml) sugar syrup (page 454), cooled. Post was not sent - check your email addresses! Combine the za’atar and olive oil in a small bowl. Fillings can include eggs, dairy produce (cheese or labneh) and green herbs and vegetables (spinach, purslane, Swiss chard and fresh thyme - the long-leaved one used in salads or pickles). Brush a serving dish with a little sugar syrup so that the melting cheese does not stick and turn the pie over onto the dish to reveal the crisp golden pastry. A soft creamy cheese made from strained yogurt, labneh is easy to make at home and lower in calories than American-style cream cheese. Easy and (Mostly) Healthy Chicken Pot Pie, Summertime: Peach, Plum and Apple Galette. Change ), You are commenting using your Facebook account. Let the small dough rolls thaw and then press them down flat). At this point, you can start preparing the cheese mixture – see below. That's the only way to describe these Lebanese delicacies. Cook for 20 to 30 minutes, turning the dish regularly to make sure the pastry browns evenly. Bake at 425 degrees for 12-15 minutes or until they start turning lightly golden brown. 5. It can be a main meal, a snack, or a party appetizer depending on your preference and the size you make them. Return to the oven and bake for 10 more minutes, or until the cheese is melted. Place flour in a large bowl, add salt and yeast, whisk until well mixed. Tiny little bitesize morsels of savoury yumminess. If you find the dough too sticky, add a few extra tablespoons of flour; if too dry, add an extra tablespoon of water. While the dough is rising in the bowl, begin grating the cheddar cheeses, then add the small pieces of Velveeta. Create a well in the middle of the flour mixture, pour olive oil in the bowl, then add water. Meanwhile, drain the cheese and pat it dry with paper towels. And, when you donate, you'll become a member of The Splendid Table Co-op. I blitz the onions in the food processor and also squeeze the water out of them too. Let mixture cool slightly. Typically you’ll want to make them about 3 inches round, but you can make them as small or as large as you want. Bake in the middle of the oven for 18-20 minutes, or until golden brown. An easy weeknight recipe and more, delivered once a week. Mix together with your hands until of a consistency that can be kneaded on the countertop. Knead gently with the palm of your hand until smooth – this shouldn’t take longer than 5 minutes. This Lebanese spinach pie is filled with a mixture of spinach, combined with onion, pine nuts, pomegranate molasses and seasonings including salt, sumac (the magical ingredient), lemon juice and optional cayenne (for a bit of heat). Your family will love this! (Here it would be a good idea to use a copper dish, if you have one, as most other baking dishes will not go over the fire.) My teeshirts smell like a middle eastern souq for a week, but it’s worth it. 10 1/2 ounces (300 g) akkawi (see below) or fior de latte mozzarella (cow’s milk mozzarella), 8 tablespoons (115 g) unsalted butter, cut into small cubes, 3/4 cup (180 ml) sugar syrup (page 454), cooled. One of them is Aladdin Bakery at 1020 St. Laurent Boulevard in Ottawa South. Change the water regularly until the cheese has lost all traces of saltiness—you will probably need to change the water up to ten times in the space of 2 to 3 hours. In this time the dough should double in size. You may find the addition of tahini, pomegranate molasses, and labneh (strained Greek yogurt) a bit strange, but they do transform the taste of the meat … Heat the olive oil in a large skillet, then sauté the onions for 5 minutes until they soften. 1 tsp vegetable or olive oil, for coating the dough. )Fatayers are a Lebanese food found throughout the Arab world in pastry shops and market stalls. What is sfeeha?A little meat pie; made extraordinary by the folks in Baalbeck (the number one tourist destination in … Maybe when she turns 80 she’ll reconsider and join these women with their melodic tongues and culinary prowess and immerse herself in a culture that has been absent from her world since she was a child. Donate today for as little as $5.00 a month. The dough can be tricky to keep closed during baking, but even the ones that open are, of course, delicious. Check our easy meat pie recipe to prepare it as a meal or as hors d'oeuvres. Pulling flour in from the outside with your hand as you mix it into dough. In a large bowl mix together the flour and salt. If you, like me, love feta chesse, then a really delicious variation is to use for the filling feta cheese and a nice hard yellow cheese Keywords: cheese pies, fried cheese pie recipe, pitarakia, how to make cheese pies After the Man'oushé bi-za'tar, the jibneh is the most popular pie ordered in the street corner Lebanese bakery. They can be made in a variety of sizes but are perfect as a snack or appetizer/side dish. Combine the shredded akawi cheese and shredded mozzarella cheese in a medium sized bowl. Stir in the garlic and broccoli and cook for 2-3 more minutes, until the broccoli is crisp-tender. Mix well. Fatayer are little pies popular throughout the Middle East. Place the fatayar on the baking sheets and generously brush or spray the dough with olive oil. Remove from heat, then stir in cheddar cheese and sour cream, and mix until well blended; set aside. ( Log Out /  If you cannot source it, use mozzarella made with cow’s milk as it is less wet than buffalo mozzarella, and make sure you pat it dry before using. I’ve become a tad more discerning since my toddler phase: I prefer Pinot Noir to the customary Shiraz my parents liked, I no longer eat parmesan cheese sprinkled from a container, and can pick out which ingredients I like or don’t in a recipe by smell alone. We transport back several dozen fatayer in our suitcases, often the only souvenirs from our trip, that we then distribute and dole out to the other members of the family. They can have a variety of fillings, from meat to cheese or spinach. Splendid Table Co-op members will get exclusive content each month and have special opportunities for connecting with The Splendid Table team. 480 g (2lb – 4 cups) of ‘akkawi cheese My mom has been begging those old women for their fatayer recipe for years; though the only way they’ll give it up, they say, is if she stays with them to work. I made a version called Fatayer bi Sabanekh, Lebanese Fatayer filled with spinach. Let the lebanese meat pies rest for at least 10 minutes while the oven is preheating. It is usually made with white cheese called ‘akkawi. ( Log Out /  4. The fatayer, like most regional food has familial and regional differences but they all look and taste similar. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes, or until golden brown. This recipe is a family favorite. Coat the border of the dough circles with a bit of egg white, and top each circle with 1 tablespoon of the cheese mixture then seal firmly its 4 edges to form a square that holds the cheese. Today we are diving in to Middle Eastern food with the fatayer, a Lebanese meat pie. You can vary the cheese by using 1 pound (450g) Arabic clotted cream (qashtah) and follow the instructions as below. Remove from nuts from pan but leave any remaining butter. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper. The mixture should start to bubble up. equal amounts of grated akkawi cheese, kashkaval, sharp cheddar (about 100 g of each) 1 table spoon nigella seeds (optional) 2-3 tablespoons chopped cilantro Once you have your dough, cover the bowl and set … This Lebanese Spinach Pie is one that I grew up eating. You seemed to have struggled a lot for this amazing recipe. If you eat Lebanese food often you might also know it was Spinach Fatayer. By the time it is done, the pie should move in one block if you shake the dish from side to side. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. When the dough has fully risen, punch down the dough in the bowl, then break off small lemon-sized pieces and roll these into small balls. After about 15 minutes, stir well. Cheeseburger Pie - It's a cheeseburger in pie form with a filling of ground beef, bacon, cheese, mushrooms and onions, and topped with buttery dumpling crust. Lebanese meat pies are flavorful flat bread pies with spicy ground meat toppings. Man'ooshe: 1 heaping teaspoon active dry yeast 1 teaspoon sugar or honey (optional) 2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour or bread flour and 1 1/2 cups whole-wheat … They are unparalleled in their taste and difficult to track down – a kind of Lebanese truffle. You can make this in the oven (as below) or on the stovetop. Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. Let cool on a wire rack. There are many recipes out there for the dough and the stuffing, but this is my favorite. Place the dough ball in a medium bowl and cover with a paper towel, let rising in a warm place for an hour and fifteen minutes. Top lebanese cheese pie recipes and other great tasting recipes with a healthy slant from SparkRecipes.com. 1 cup Velveeta cheese, broken into small pieces. The cheese should remain visible in the middle. 2. Published by Ecco, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers. Dissolve the sugar in 1/2 cup warm water. Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email. Place the cheese pies on lightly greased oven pans and bake at medium heat until they turn lightly brown. These sound way better than cheese pizza… not even close. Generously sprinkle the cheese mixture with the sesame seeds, then press down with your fingers. Lebanese cheese fatayers are savory pastries found throughout the Middle East. We rely on you to do this. My mom declines, though with hesitation I can tell, and chooses to search for the recipe on her own instead. Shred the soaked akawi cheese using a large box grater. A few hours ahead: Slice the cheese into thin slices, about 1/4 inch (6 mm) thick, and. Happy cooking! When my brother flies back for a visit, he spends more time in the shawarma shop than sleeping. Your gift only takes a few minutes and has a lasting impact on The Splendid Table and you'll be welcomed into The Splendid Table Co-op. For the cheese mixture: 3/4 cup shredded medium cheddar cheese. Place the balls directly on a lightly oiled baking sheet and press then down and apart gently with your fingers. (makes about a dozen medium-sized fatayer), 1/2 cup warm water (100 degrees F/38 degrees C), 1 tsp vegetable or olive oil, for coating the dough, 1 cup Velveeta cheese, broken into small pieces, Sesame seeds for tossing on top of the cheese mixture before cooking – approximately 1 to 2 tbsp, (Shortcut – If you are in a hurry and are looking for a shortcut, you can pick up small, frozen dinner roll-sized dough in the frozen food section of your grocery store. It is close enough, however, and still worthy of being stashed away in the freezer for a day when Montreal calls to me most. Bake about 18-20 minutes or until tops of the cheese pies are golden. In Lebanon kunafah is made into a sweet sandwich by stuffing it inside the fat part of a sesame bread that looks like a handbag, with a handle and a fat pouch part, then drenching it and the inside of the bread in sugar syrup.