Easy Greek Pasties

Mise en place

1. Set oven to 350F and prep a parchment lined baking sheet, and a cooling rack.

2. Gather and wash the herbs. Remove leaves from stems. We are using only the leaves.

3. Puff pastry should be completely defrosted, remove from fridge to reach room temp.

Filling

1. Crumble the feta into a large bowl.

2. Mince, dice, and chop all the herbs, and add to the bowl mixing the ingredients well.

3. Add the olive oil and lemon juice and mix well. Then add seasoning (salt + pepper) and mix.

4. Pull thawed spinach and empty into a cheesecloth to squeeze out all the moisture you can. Then do a rough chop and add to the bowl.. (If the spinach is still frozen defrost in the microwave, let it cool and then squeeze out the moisture.)

   
   
   

5. Make sure all ingredients for the filling are either cold or at room temp before you add 4 whisked eggs (otherwise they will cook in the bowl). Then mix all and set aside as the filling is ready.

   
   
   

Pastry

1. Open a package of thawed puff pastry. Lightly flour your working surface.

2. Take out one sheet and seperate into the perforated three sections. Cut each rectangle of dough into 3 squares. Then roll out each square as thin as you can make it. Pick it up and pull a bit more to stretch it out.

3. Then place the dough on your floured surface so it is in a diamond shape, and add filling to its center, as much or little as you want. Then fold over into a triangle and, using a fork, press the open edges together. You want a good seal for the steam from the moisture in the filling will help puff the dough and make the puff pastry ever more flakey.

4. Once done, place this pastie on the parchment lined baking sheet, and keep doing this until all the filling or dough is gone. (Better to have left over dough, than left over filling so portion them out as you go, or make more filling.)

5. Make an egg wash with 1 egg, 2T water and mix well. Then add the zest of one lemon to the wash and fix. Using a pastry brush, brush the egg mixture over each pastie and put in the oven for ~45 minutes.

6. Pull out of the oven when the pastie are colorful and yummy looking. You may notice some of the egg wash is cooked, just scrape the egg parts away from the pastie and place on a cooling rack.

   
   
   

Serving

1. Meze: This becomes the hot dish on a table displaying a variety of side Greek small plates of good tasty food or dips.

2. Meze Plate: I put two of the pasties in the center and on the perimeter of the plate I will add 1-4 T of hummus, tabbouleh, tzatziki, and 1-2 dolmas, Kalamata olives, etc.

3. Grab-n-Go: Great lunch item or when you are on the run and need something to eat.