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A savory hand pie cut in half. Featured image.

Savory Vegetarian Hand Pies - Tiropitakia

Sylia
These savory vegetarian 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
Cook Time 30 minutes
Course Appetizer, Breakfast, Main Course, Side Dish, Snack
Cuisine Greek, Mediterranean

Ingredients
  

THE DOUGH

  • 4 cups (500g) hard (bread) flour
  • 1 teaspoon (6g) vinegar or apple cider
  • 1 tablespoon (20g) honey
  • 1 teaspoon salt (optional)
  • 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, and red pepper for another 10 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside to cool. Salt (optional)* and pepper to taste.
  • 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.

Notes

Salt can be optional because feta cheese is salty enough.
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