Fatayer are little hand pies made with a yeasted dough eaten in Palestine and across the Levant. I love making traditional spinach fatayer but I have to say these wild garlic fatayer are now my favourite. Our mushroom and walnut fatayers are also pretty great.
As always, forage responsibly. For wild garlic, this means only taking one or two leaves from each plant, and only harvesting in areas of abundance. Always be 100% confident on your identification. If in doubt, just use spinach and add some regular garlic in the mix.
For the dough:
500g white flour
1 x 7g packet of dry yeast (about 1.5 tsp)
1.5 tsp of sugar
1.5 tsp of salt
1 tbsp of Palestinian olive oil
1 tsp of turmeric (optional, but it makes the dough a nice colour)
300ml of lukewarm water
For the filling:
300g wild garlic
1 onion, sliced
100g pine nuts
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp Palestinian sumac
2 tbsp Palestinian olive oil
Juice of half a lemon
Method
Activate the yeast by adding it to the warm water and the sugar and mix gently.
Prepare the dough by mixing the rest of the dry ingredients, then adding the oil and yeasty water.
Knead the dough for 5-10 minutes until the dough comes together and is soft and elastic.
Set the dough aside in an oiled bowl, covered with a tea towel. The dough should be kept in a warm location to allow it to rise for about 30 minutes
Whilst the dough is doing it’s thing, toast the pine nuts in a pan until they become golden brown and fragrant.
In a mixing bowl combine all the filling ingredients together.
Once the dough has risen, roll it out onto a thin sheet, using flour to ensure it doesn’t stick to the work surface or your rolling pin.
Use a circle cutter or glass (I used a pint glass) to cut the dough into circles. Don’t waste the leftover dough, it is fine to recombine and use it all up.
To each circle, add a little of the wild garlic mixture, about 1-2 tsp.
Fold the dough over on two sides, pinching the corners together. Then fold the third side over, so the fatayer is triangular. Its OK if the dough doesn’t cover the entire mixture.
Place the fatayers on baking sheets with baking paper, and brush the dough with a little oil or milk (I used oat milk).
Bake in a preheated oven until the pastry is golden brown. Depending on your oven, it should be about 12-15 mins.
Enjoy your fatayer. Any extra fatayer freeze well and can be reheated in the oven.