Fatayer is basically a pie which can have a meat filling, a cheese filling or a filling of spinach. It is from the Lebanese cuisine and is popular in the middle-eastern countries. They can be made fully covered with the filling inside or partially open, which is how mostly the cheese variant is shaped. But whatever the shape, these pies are really delicious.
The recipe I am sharing is of a cheese fatayer. For the cheese fatayer, mostly the white brine cheese called Akkawi is used. However, since it may not be available everywhere, feta cheese makes for a great substitute. I have shaped these fatayers like a mini boat. Parsley leaves and onion seeds are used to flavour the cheese in the filling.
These fatayers are baked and can be a great snack at the Ifthar meal. If you are looking for more Ifthar recipes from other regions, do check out my earlier posts here.
Fatayer
Course: Snacks and SavouriesCuisine: LebaneseDifficulty: Moderate8
servings15
minutes20
minutes35
minutesA Lebanese snack with a filling of cheese and parsley leaves!
Ingredients
- For the dough
Lukewarm Milk – ¼ cup+1 tbsp
Yeast – ¾ tsp
Sugar – 1 tsp
All Purpose Flour – 1 cup
Salt – ¼ tsp
Olive Oil – 2.5 tbsp
- For the filling
Feta cheese – ¼ cup
Onion Seeds – 1 tsp
Chopped Parsley Leaves – 2 tbsp
Egg – 1, beaten lightly
For the egg wash
Egg – 1, beaten lightly
Water – 1 tbsp
Directions
- To make the dough, first add the yeast and sugar to the milk and mix well. Let it sit for a couple of minutes so that the yeast activates and rises.
- In a bowl, add the flour, salt, olive oil and the yeast mixture and mix well. Knead it into a smooth dough.
- Cover it with a damp cloth and keep it aside for 10 min while you prepare the filling.
- Preheat the oven at 180C.
- For the filling, crumble the feta cheese and add the onion seeds, chopped parsley and egg to it and mix well.
- Divide the dough and the filling into 8 portions.
- Take one portion of the dough and make it into a smooth ball. Roll it long into an oval shape.
- Keep a portion of the filling in the centre and fold the dough from the sides towards centre, but not covering it fully.
- And pinch the sides to make it look like a boat.
- Beat together the egg and water for the egg wash and brush it on the fatayers.
- Bake in the preheated oven at 180C for 15-20 min till golden brown.
- You can brush some melted butter as soon as it comes out of the oven and sprinkle some black sesame seeds too.
