MINI PITA BREAD HAND PIES WITH FETA CHEESE

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Mini pita bread hand pies with feta cheese. I cannot wait to share this recipe with you. The ultimate 100% homemade Greek pita bread dough folded over a delicious feta cheese and red pepper stuffing. Make it my way: hand-held mini pies.

It is somehow crazy to post this pita bread pies before even posted the basic pita bread recipe but why not? (update: check out my pita bread. I finally made it!). I can do whatever I like in my webspace, right? They were so delicious that my kids were fighting over the last mini pie and I hardy saved a few for shooting. I was so excited about the outcome of that recipe that I immediately grabbed my camera for the shooting and later that day the words came out so right for this post. This time. For a change. Writing a post is still a struggle for me since English isn’t my mother tongue and I have to check every single sentence again and again and it’s usually so hard and frustrating.

THE RECIPE

The success short story behind this recipe is leftover pita bread dough after a souvlaki night, half kilo feta cheese in the fridge, gift from a friend who came back from his hometown in the countryside with a small barrel of feta (!!!), 4 red bell peppers screaming “no more fridge for God’s sake” and plenty of herbs waiting patiently in the fridge and pantry. My idea was to use my amazing pita bread dough to make a pie and …

Nailed it! The slightly sweet and nutty flavor of the pita bread blends like a charm with the creamy and peppery feta cheese, the sweetness of red pepper and the Mediterranean herbs. Therefore, here they come, my mini pita bread hand pies with feta cheese and red bell pepper.

This recipe gives you the space for using up a great variety of veggies for the filling. Apart from the dough, keep only feta cheese that offers the creamy and cheesy delightful flavor and the eggs that bind all ingredients together.

READY! NOW, WHAT?

Eat them for breakfast, brunch, pack them wherever you go: at work, on a picnic, serve them for your party or any other occasion, fancy or casual.  Serve them with a salad like this marvelous cabbage salad and you got a scrumptious and nutritious meal. Freeze them and save some for the following crazy week when you have no time to breathe. I got another bonus, at least in my book: no need for forks or plates! Save on mess, brothers and sisters!

I recommend an aromatic Greek white wine like Savatiano.

Tips

#1 No need for additional salt because feta cheese will do all the work.

#2 Use hard flour. You won’t get the same outcome with all-purpose flour. Higher amounts of protein from hard flour will produce gluten that will give to the dough stretch and elasticity and the characteristic chewy texture of pita bread.

#3 We simply need a smooth but hard dough. Follow the instructions and add little water ONLY if the dough is too sticky. Don’t over knead the dough. If it is smooth enough, let it double its size and gluten will do the rest for you.

#4 Don’t skip vinegar because it will produce even more elasticity.

#5 I recommend durum or semolina flour for rolling the dough for one very important reason. This flour’s texture is heavier and coarser than most milled flours. It won’t absorb the moisture of the dough and make the dough hard enough to roll and not as chewy as a traditional pita bread should be.

Enjoy and tell me how it went. Share your photos on my Instagram account and follow me there for more recipes, meal ideas and much more.

Credits: The pita bread recipe is not mine. I have to thank mamangelic one of the best Greek food bloggers, nutritionist, and an excellent photographer. Thank you mamangelic for this wonderful recipe amongst many others. We have enjoyed countless meals with this homemade pita bread thanks to you.

Recipe

Mini Pita Bread Hand Pies with Feta Cheese

Sylia

These delicious mini hand pies have got creamy and cheesy filling made with feta and bell peppers all wrapped in the ultimate pita bread dough.

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Prep Time 1 hour hr

Cook Time 30 minutes mins

Course Appetizer, Breakfast, Main Course, Side Dish, Snack

Cuisine Greek

Ingredients

  

THE DOUGH

• 4 cups (500g) hard (bread) flour
• 1 teaspoon (6g) vinegar or apple cider
• 1 tablespoon (20g) honey
• 1 teaspoon (7g) salt
• 2¼ teaspoons (7g) dry yeast
• 1 ¼ cup (300ml) lukewarm water
• Durum or semolina flour for rolling

THE FILLING

• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 small onions chopped
• 2 leeks (only the white part) chopped
• 1 tablespoon fresh thyme or 1 teaspoon dried
• 4 bell peppers chopped
• 2 eggs whisked
• 2⅔ cups (400g) feta cheese crumbled
• Freshly ground pepper

EGG WASH

• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 1 tablespoon water

Instructions

 

THE DOUGH

• Dissolve yeast in ½ cup warm water. It needs 4-5 minutes to activate.
• Meanwhile, in a medium mixing bowl, combine all ingredients with a spoon (the activated yeast, the rest of the water, vinegar, salt, honey, flour). Knead the dough in the bowl for about 5 minutes until it becomes smooth. Add very small amounts of extra flour if the dough is extremely sticky. Alternatively, knead the dough at medium speed in a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment about 1-2 minutes.
• Cover the bowl with a kitchen towel and let rise (double its size) in a warm place for 30 minutes to 1 hour.

THE FILLING

• Meanwhile, in a saucepan add olive oil over medium heat. Add onion, leek, thyme and sauté for 3 minutes. Add spring onion, red pepper for another 10 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside to cool. Combine 2 scrambled eggs, crumbled feta. Mix well and set aside.

THE ROLLING

• When the dough has doubled, punch it down and transfer to a lightly floured (use durum or semolina flour) work surface. Cut into 6-10 even pieces. Form each dough piece into an even ball.
• Roll each piece of dough into a circle, no more than ¼ inch thick, taking care not to tear the dough and keeping the thickness even all around. Use a round cutter or just a plate (I used a 7.8-inch plate) or any other size you prefer. Cut into even pieces and get neat edges.

ASSEMBLING & BAKING

• Preheat oven to 350°F/180°C.
• Brush the edge of one of the pastry circles with egg wash and place some filling in the middle.
• Take 1-3 tablespoons (according to the size of the disk) of the feta-pepper mixture and place it in the middle of each disc. Use a pastry brush to place the egg wash on the outer edges of the disc. Fold the disc over and gently press the edges to seal. With a fork press around the edges to seal well enough.
• Brush the top with egg wash. Carefully place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Leave about 1 inch of space between the pies.
• Bake for about 30 minutes or until the top is golden brown.

Keyword Mini hand pies