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!
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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.
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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.
I haven’t played with puff pastry for years — it’s time again, don’t you think? Nice thorough instructions, interesting ingredients — sounds terrific. I love the combo of spinach and feta; bet I’d like this! Thanks for a great post.
Your recipe sounds good.
If you cooked the spinach dry in the skillet first, then squeezed it, then chopped it, then heated it briefly with the sauteed onion, do you think you could avoid having to squeeze it after adding the lemon juice and egg yolk?
Thank you Faye! That’s a great idea. I tried a quite a few methods before settling on the somewhat odd but very effective squeeze *after* adding liquids method, but will have to give this a go next time! Perhaps it will end up in the next edition 🙂
Thanks, Katherine. I’m looking forward to seeing a copy of your book.
This recipe looks amazing! Puff pastry is amazing…what a great idea for a cookbook!
I recently have been learning how amazing and versatile puff pastry is- what a great idea!
Hi Nami! Something for you is waiting on my blog http://www.italianinthemidwest.com/2012/03/burger-bun.html
Great to see you teamed up with Katherine!
Katherine, I didn’t know you had a cookbook! That is awesome and what a great idea for a cookbook to boot! This recipe looks outstanding.
What a great idea for a cookbook–and I love the ease and versatility of puff pastry! Katherine, congratulations on your cookbook.
This is such a great combination of flavors. And the pastry looks amazing! Thanks for a great post, Katherine and Nami!
Hi Nami,
This is looking so delightful and appetizing. A very well made post with beautiful pictures. Loved anything with spinach and its looking wonderful. Have a wonderful week ahead. Thanks & Regards, Sonia !!!
Congrats on your cookbook, Katherine 🙂 Your turnovers look delish 🙂
Anything with spinach plus feta is my kind of snack! And, I have puff pastry in the freezer – lucky me!
I love you both, and I love these turnovers!
Good job Katherine!
Hugs Nami!
thsank you for a freat recipe. i forgot how much i love fetas cheese have not used it for years. have been eating thai food i make and bbq also,
best wishes
alan
Congrats Katherine on your cookbook! These turnovers look awesome. I also love to use puff pastry. So versatile!
So glad to see Katherine guest posting here on your blog Nami! She does have some amazing talent for many different cuisines. The turnovers do look delicious, especially after seeing the filling ingredients. Delicious post!