Lebanese Pies with Asian Greens and Feta

I have always loved the little spinach pies you find at Lebanese restaurants.  We just got our spinach seeds in the ground, so an authentic Fatayer is still months away.  But the garden is practically bursting with Asian greens -- we have an abundance of Natsu Rakuten, Yu Choy, Komatsuna, and Choho to name just a few.  I wish I could tell you the distinguishing flavors of each of these greens, but we always harvest the greens together and combine them when we cook.  The cooked greens taste amazingly similar to spinach.

This inspired us to create our own version of a traditional Lebanese pie using a mixture of Asian greens.  We added feta (because what's not better with feta?), and instead of making pastry dough we used store-bought puff pastry.  The results look like savory hamantaschen and taste wonderful.  If you're the entertaining type, these would make fantastic appetizers fresh from the garden.  Since our entertaining these days seems to be limited to crowds of hungry little boys, we kept all the pies for ourselves and popped them in our mouths straight off the sheetpan.  A little bit of Beirut by way of China and Japan right here in our Texas kitchen.

Lebanese Pies with Asian Greens and Feta

Ingredients

1/2         lb         assorted Asian greens, washed,
                          thick stems removed, and chopped
1                        large onion, chopped
3            tbs       olive oil
1/4         tsp        allspice
1 1/2      tsp        sumac
                          salt and black pepper to taste
6            oz         puff pastry, defrosted
1/4         cup       feta, crumbled or cut into small pieces

Procedure

1. Cook onions in olive oil until golden.  Add Asian greens and cook until soft, 1-2 minutes.  Add spices, then salt and pepper to taste.  
2. Remove from stove to cool and heat oven to 325 convection or 350 regular.
3. Flour your work surface and a rolling pin lightly.  Dust puff pastry lightly with flour on both sides and roll out until thin.  Cut circles of whatever size you prefer.  We made 3" circles, which yield mini pies.  As you cut the circles, place them on a silpat or parchment paper.  You can re-roll the extra dough after you cut out your circles.
4. Mix the feta into the cooled filling.  Place a dollop in the center of each circle and pinch a corner on the bottom left and right (if you're a military type, pinch at 4:00 and 8:00).  Last, pinch the top.  
5. Once all your pies are assembled (and don't worry if they don't look perfect), bake until golden brown, about 30 minutes.

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