Spinach, Feta and Pine Nut Gozlemes
Goz what now? Gozleme… it’s a Turkish version of a turnover really.. .and I believe it’s sold as street food… the Turkish women prepare it and cook it on a large round disc and fire… see how I’m sounding like I’ve eaten this on the streets of Turkey, rather than just randomly stumbling across it on a search through some food blog website? It’s all an illusion… I’ve never been to Europe but without the expense and travel I have fallen in love with these wee treats.
I say treats because for many people following a reduced calorie diet they are, as elmo would say, a “sometimes food”. Especially if you are of the belief that carbs are evil. They’re a bit of a staple in our house though and Dave loves them, especially cos a batch makes 4 serves which means he takes them for lunch the next day (they have chilli in them so our kids will moan and I don’t waste good food on moaning!). All that being said they’re still no big bowl of spag bowl kinda bad.
The original recipe was all white flour, I’ve made them here with 1/3 of the flour replaced with whole wheat, feel free to modify to your desires! This recipe is still more white flour than I like to use in a recipe.
I also added more spinach than the original recipe, partly cos it’s a good chance to get more greens, and partly cos my frozen spinach bags are 500g and I don’t like thawing half a bag!
I would normally post the original recipe source, but to be honest I’ve had this for so long I really can’t remember where I got it from L
Spinach, Feta and Pine Nut Gozlemes
1 ¼ cup warm water
7gm dried yeast
1 tsp sugar
2 cups flour
1 cup wholemeal flour
500g pack of frozen spinach, thawed, all moisture squeezed out
200g pack of feta (reduced fat would help), crumbled
¼ cup toasted pine nuts, (just toast them in a frypan)
1 chilli deseeded and sliced or 1 small tspn of crushed chilli (from a jar, not the powder)
Place water in bowl, add yeast and sugar and whisk til combined.
Stand in a warm place for 10 mins or until bubbly/ frothy. It'll look like a mug of beer when it's ready - different humidity will lead to different results in different amounts of time so don't be too pedantic about the amount of foam!
Place flour and salt in a large bowl and add yeast mixture (once frothy). Combine to form a dough. I use the wooden spoon here and then get in with my hands once it's come together.
Turn on to a lightly floured work surface and knead for 5 mins or til smooth and elastic. Adding more flour if needed to make it so it is soft but not too sticky.
Spray a baking tray with oil and divide the dough into 8 portions and place these on the prepared tray.
Cover with a clean tea towel and stand in a warm place for 15 mins, or until doubled in size. In summer these will be fine on the bench, in the winter I put them in the cylinder cupboard.
Meanwhile combine spinach, feta, pine nuts and chilli in a bowl. I get in with the back of a spoon and really mash it up.
Roll each portion of dough into a 36cm x 24cm rectangle (or there abouts,… I don’t get out my ruler for each one!.. but I wont judge you I you do!).
Divide spinach mixture in to 8 portions and place portion in the centre of the rectangle and spread along the long half of the rectangle. Fold dough to enclose filling and fold over edges to seal, I do a bit of a twist fold thing a bit like a Cornish pastie.
You can do these all at once or you can do them one at a time and cook as you go like I do…
Heat a large non stick frypan and spray with oil, place 2 gozlemes in (if they’ll fit) and spray the top sides with oil. Cook till browned then flip and repeat (obviously don’t repeat the spraying of oil as you’ve just cooked that side!)
I usually put the first 4 aside for lunch the next day for Dave and I and then prepare our dinner so that I can relax and enjoy without having to cook the rest.
I believe they’re supposed to be served with lemon wedges but I like them just as is.
The next day just heat them back up in the microwave or the frypan.
Nutritional guff for 2 Gozlemes : 532 calories Carbs: 78g Sugars: 2g
Dietary Fibre: 9g Protein: 26g Fat: 14g Sat fat: 5g
