This Spinach Puffs Recipe is so good and so easy to make! Puff Pastry Appetizers with a Middle Eastern twist on the spinach filling, with caramelized onions, pomegranate molasses making this an irresistible and absolutely delicious appetizer!
These Middle Eastern style spinach puffs are wonderful party appetizers, and are guaranteed to be a hit! Inspired by Spinach Fatayer, you cannot go wrong with these tasty spinach puffs!
Spinach Puff Pastry Appetizer
These Spinach Puff Pastry Appetizers are inspired by the the Middle Eastern Spinach Pies, also known as Spinach Fatayer, or in Arabic “fatayer sabanekh”.
Spinach Fatayer’s are so good, and they are a favorite in Middle Eastern cuisine for sure. However, the classic version is more time consuming. They are made with a homemade dough that requires more time to prepare and rise.
If you are short on time, or want a fun spin on a classic, then this is the spinach appetizer recipe for you. This version, spinach puffs, is so easy and quick to make, and has all those great flavors you could find in Fatayer, but without the trouble of making the dough.
For your next party, this is a quick appetizer recipe with unique flavors. These spinach puffs will go really quick. Double the recipe for more servings.
Spinach Puffs Ingredients:
- A sheet of puff pastry: what makes this recipe super easy and fast is that you buy these pastry sheets ready made. This cuts down on the preparation time. You can find it in the freezer section of the supermarket, usually next to things like frozen waffles. I get the Pepperidge Farm puff pastry sheets. You need to thaw the sheets at Room Temperature for about 40 minutes before you work with them.
For the spinach filling:
- Frozen spinach: Thaw the frozen spinach. Then you want to squeeze out all the water, as much as you can, from the spinach. This will prevent the spinach puffs from getting soggy. You can use fresh spinach if you prefer, but I find that it’s much easier to get a good amount of spinach for things like dips, and appetizers when you use frozen.
- Onions: very finely chopped, or grated.
- Olive oil: To saute the onions and to add to the filling. Use the best kind that you can find. I use Greek extra virgin olive oil.
- Sumac: This spice, popular in the Middle East, gives the filling a distinctive tart and citrusy depth of flavor, and a bit of color. Use it liberally.
- Lemon juice
- Pomegranate molasses: A popular syrup used in Middle Eastern dishes, with a sweet and sour flavor, that goes really will with this filling. You can leave it out if you don’t have it on hand. If you want to add some sweetness to your filling, and do not have the molasses, you can add some brown sugar.
- Salt
- Melted butter: Used to give the pasty more color as it bakes in the oven.
How to make the Spinach Puffs:
Prepare the filling:
Grate the onions or chop them finely, then saute in olive oil. You can totally add them to the filling uncooked, but I think it makes a big difference, and adds to the depth of flavor when you precook your onions. Allow them to cool for a bit before adding the onions to the rest of the ingredients.
In a small bowl, mix the onions, spinach, olive oil, sumac, molasses and lemon juice. Season with salt to taste. Don’t forget to squeeze out all the water from your thawed spinach, and give it a chop if needed.
Prepare the puff pastry sheet(s):
Open up your thawed puff pastry sheet. It should be thawed but still cool. Place the sheet on a floured surface and roll it out a little bit with a rolling pin. Be careful not to over do it. Cut up the sheet into 9 squares. You can cut more smaller squares if you preper smaller spinach puffs.
Fill the squares and bake:
Place the filling in the center of each square, then bring the edges together and close them to form a diamond shape. They will open during baking. Brush them with melted butter to give them a beautiful golden color when baked.
Bake in a preheated oven to 400 F or 200 C for about 20 minutes or until they are golden brown. Allow them to cool for 10 minutes before serving. Serve warm or at room temperature.
More Recipes to try:
- Cheese stuffed oregano bread rolls
- Authentic Baba Ganoush Dip
- Spinach Artichoke Pasta Bake with Goat Cheese
- Pineapple Upside Down Bundt Cake
Spinach Puffs
Ingredients
- 1 cup onions minced
- 8 oz frozen spinach
- olive oil
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- 2 tbsp sumac
- 2 tbsp pomegranate molasses
- a pinch salt
- 1 sheet puff pastry
- 1 tbsp butter melted
Instructions
- Thaw 1 sheet of puff pastry at room temperature, and thaw the frozen spinach.
- Saute the onions with some olive oil until transluscent, then set aside to cool for a bit.
- Squeeze out the thawed spinach to remove all the excess water from it. Chop it up if needed.
- Preheat the oven to 400 F (200 C).
- In a small bowl, prepare the filling: mix together the spinach, onions, sumac, molasses, lemon juice, olive oil, and salt.
- Roll out the thawed pastry, and cut into 9 squares. Spoon the mixture onto the squares. Bring the four square corners into the middle, then press along the edges to close them. Brush the top with melted butter.
- Bake in the oven for 20 minutes, or until golden. You can broil for a few minutes at the end to get more color. Allow to cool for a bit before serving.
I love the filling. It’s new and unique. Thank you!