Today I invited my blog friend Katherine from Katherine Martinelli to Just One Cookbook as she just published her first e-cookbook called Puff Pastry at Brunch: 10 Sweet and Savory Recipes to Start Your Morning! I’m really excited because she’s my good blogger friend and this cookbook is about puff pastry! If you have been following my blog, you probably know that I rarely make desserts, and if I do, it’s mostly with puff pastry sheets. Without further ado, please welcome Katherine with delicious Spinach and Feta Turnovers!
*****
I am so honored to be guest posting Just One Cookbook today! Although Nami and I have never met I feel like we are friends. Even though emails and blog posts, I can tell that she is a warm, kind soul who always tries to make time for everyone. I always enjoy emailing with Nami about blogging and food, and I want to try every single gorgeous dish that she makes. I feel so lucky to have Nami as a blog friend.
Today I am thrilled to share some very exciting news: I just published my first cookbook! It’s called Puff Pastry at Brunch: 10 Sweet and Savory Recipes to Start Your Morning and it is an e-cookbook. It was published by Hang Time Press, a lovely new media publishing house, and is available on Amazon Kindle and Barnes and Noble Nook for just $2.99. I hope you’ll check it out!
All the recipes in the book call for prepared puff pastry, an ingredient that I’ve become obsessed with in recent years. I always have some stashed in my freezer and I can’t begin to tell you how often it has come to the rescue. Here I’ve used it as the base for one of my favorite meals: brunch. Although there are only 10 recipes, each one is really just a jumping-off point for other recipes and I provide lots of ideas for variations.
Living in Israel, I’ve been exposed to so many new cuisines. Bourekas, a kind of savory turnover, have become a staple of my diet and are the inspiration for this recipe. They are common throughout the Middle East, Mediterranean, and North Africa and come with all kinds of fillings, from potato to “pizza.” Spinach and feta is one of my favorite flavor combinations, and it works perfectly here. These are great for brunch but work just as well as a breakfast on the run. I like to freeze some to reheat them for an easy snack.
Wish to learn more about Japanese cooking? Sign up for our free newsletter to receive cooking tips & recipe updates! And stay in touch with me on Facebook, Pinterest, YouTube, and Instagram.
Spinach and Feta Turnovers
Ingredients
- 1 tsp extra virgin olive oil
- ¼ cup onion (finely chopped)
- 3 cloves garlic (minced)
- 7 oz spinach leaves
- Diamond Crystal kosher salt (for taste)
- freshly ground black pepper (for taste)
- 1 tsp lemon juice
- 1 large egg (50 g each w/o shell) (separated)
- 3 oz feta cheese (crumbled)
- 12 oz frozen puff pastry (defrosted)
- Za’atar (optional; this is a Middle Eastern and North African spice blend most commonly made up of some combination of dried thyme, oregano, marjoram, sumac, and sesame seeds. It is available at specialty food shops in the US and can be ordered from online spice shops such as The Spice House and Penzeys Spices.)
Instructions
- Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic and cook until just softened (be careful not to burn the garlic). Add the spinach and cook, stirring often, until fully wilted, about 3 minutes.
- Remove from the heat. Season lightly with salt and pepper and vigorously stir in the lemon juice and egg yolk (reserve the egg white for later). Transfer the mixture to a bowl and allow to cool.
- Once the spinach is cool enough to handle, squeeze out as much liquid as possible and roughly chop. (I realize that it seems counter-intuitive to put liquid in then squeeze it out, but after countless test runs this process led to the best results.) Return spinach to the bowl and thoroughly mix in the feta.
- Preheat the oven to 400°F (200ºC). For a convection oven, reduce cooking temperature by 25ºF (15ºC). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Roll out the puff pastry to a rectangle about ⅛ inch (3 mm) thick and 12" x 18" (30 x 46 cm). Cut into 6 even 5"-6" (13-15 cm) squares. Put a spoonful of the spinach-feta mixture into the center of each puff pastry square. Fold the puff pastry over to form a triangle. Press down with a fork along the edges to tightly seal.
- Transfer the turnovers to the prepared baking sheet. Brush with the reserved egg white and sprinkle with za’atar, if using. Put in the oven and bake for 20 minutes, or until golden brown.
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool slightly before serving. Spinach-feta turnovers are excellent warm or at room temperature.
To Store
- The turnovers can be made ahead and frozen. To freeze, lay flat on a baking tray and put in the freezer. Once frozen, transfer to freezer bags. To re-heat, simply bake in a pre-heated oven for 10 to 15 minutes, until warmed through.
Hi Nami,
It’s great to see Katherine doing a guest post on your blog. I love her presentation, style and recipes. These turnovers looks great. No stress with the ready to use puff pastry.
Have a wonderful trip Nami.
Wonderful guest post, Nami..spinach and feta can never go wrong..
Katherine, I am drooling over those triangles. I just wish they could magically appear on my plate instead of just on my computer screen 😉
Hello, Katherine.
Love spinach turnovers whether they’re made with puff pastry or phyllo and the za’atar is great on flatbreads breads or on roast chicken so I imagine it would add a lot of flavour to these as well.
These look super yummy! I would love to try them out! =] xoxo
Congrats sweetie! I am so glad you published a ebook! Katherine, your dish look fantastic, I love this combination!!!!
Nami, I love your pick of a guest blogger! I enjoyed reading it very much, and drool over her food!!:))
Have a lovely day!!!
The turnovers look terrific. It’s spinach season now so they are a great seasonal snack idea and I think I have already tasted feta with spinach and enjoyed this combination a lot. A Lebanese friend once made me taste zaatar on flat bread with some oil. It was delicious. I must try to see if I can buy it here. Wonderful post, Katherine! I’m very happy to meet you!
Hi Nami, this is a wonderful guest post I love Katherines blog, she always has something delicious going on. Katherine these turnovers are one of my favorites and I wish mine came out of the oven looking as pretty as yours do. Congrats on your e-book that is so cool. Hope you both have a lovely dy.
What a fabulous recipe and a lovely guest post from Katherine. How exciting for her to have published an e-cookbook! Thank you for sharing these mouthwatering spinach turnovers, ladies. This is a fabulous post!
How could someone NOT buy your cookbook after seeing these! These sounds a lot like spanakopita which I absolutely love, so I can’t imagine having any leftovers from one batch! These look scrumptious!
Great guest post & these turnovers look amazing!
Really beautiful spinach and feta turnovers! Congratulations Katherine on the book!! Well done!
Thanks Nami for introducing me to a great blogger. 🙂
Yum! These turnovers looks scrumptious. Bookmarked!
These look so yummy. Your pictures are absolutely beautiful. I love the flavor combo of these turnovers- classic!
I just purchased Katherine’s book for my Kindle, first cook book purchase for Kindle.
Thank you so much Jane!! I am thrilled to hear it and I really hope you enjoy the book 😀