Name: Filled Pastries (Fatayir)
Yield: Makes 24 pieces
Cuisine: Iraqi
Ingredients: Two 10 oz (285 g) packages frozen spinach, thawed and with excess moisture squeezed out; 1 teaspoon za’tar or thyme, optional; 2 cups (8 oz/225 g) feta cheese, crumbled; ½ teaspoon black pepper; 1 egg, beaten; 1 cup (4 oz/115 g) shredded mozzarella cheese; ¼ cup (½ oz/15 g) fresh mint, or 1 teaspoon dried mint, optional; 1 cup (2 oz/60 g) parsley, chopped; 1 teaspoon za’tar or thyme; ¼ cup (1 oz/30 g) chopped Dried tomatoes, optional; ¼ cup (½ oz/15 g) fresh dill, chopped, or 1 teaspoon dried dill weed; ½ cup (4 oz/115 g) crumbled feta cheese, or grated Pecorino Romano cheese; 2 medium onions (about 1½ cups/9 oz/250 g) finely chopped, and sautéed in 2 tablespoons olive oil; ½ teaspoon chili pepper, or to taste (optional); ¼ cup (1 oz/30 g) chopped toasted walnuts; 1 teaspoon salt; 1 tablespoon lemon juice

Preparation info

Makes
24
pieces

Difficulty
Easy

Appears in

Delights from the Garden of Eden

By Nawal Nasrallah

Published 2019

About

In the medieval sense, fateer (khubz al-fateer) is, strictly speaking, unleavened bread, rolled out thinly and baked on a taabaq (large, flat iron pan), or fried and dipped in syrup and served as a sweet. However, fatayir was also used in the modern sense to designate collectively fried or baked filled pastries, so called because the dough portions were flattened like khubz al-fateer.

The much-loved medieval sanbousaj pastries – we still love them