Greek Hand Pies Recipes

HAND PIES RECIPE

Steps:

• Place flour, salt, and cold butter pieces into the bowl of your stand mixer and blend on low until mixture resembles coarse sand.
• Add in your egg and just enough water to bring the mixture together
• Press into a disk and wrap with plastic wrap. Chill for one hour.
• Prepare your fresh fruit by chopping into small cubes (if needed) or use frozen fruit. No need to defrost.
• Place your fruit and butter in a large saucepan over medium-high heat until the butter is melted and bubbling.
• Add in your water (or juice), sugar, lemon juice, and salt and mix until combined. Bring to a simmer.
• Combine your ClearGel with your water and whisk to make a slurry. Pour into your simmering mixture and mix for 1-2 minutes to cook the gel. If you're using cornstarch, you only need to cook until it's clear.
• Remove from the heat and let the mixture cool.
• Preheat your oven to 400ºF and line a large sheet pan with parchment paper
• Let your dough stand at room temperature for 15 minutes to let it soften a bit
• Dust your surface with flour. Begin by pressing your dough with your rolling pin to start flattening it.
• Roll your dough out to 1/8 thick or about the thickness of a cake board. Thinner than you think. Thinner dough results in a crisper, crunchier crust for your hand pies.
• Cut your dough into 6" circles. I used a 6" cake board as a template or you can use a 5" circle cutter if you want smaller hand pies.
• Fill your 6" hand pie with 3 tablespoons of fruit filling (5" circles take 1 heaping Tablespoon). Do not overfill.
• Brush the outside edge with egg wash (one egg whisked with 1 tablespoon of cold water)
• Fold the hand pie over and crimp with a fork to seal well
• Use a knife or fork to make some vents on top
• Brush the hand pies with more egg wash and place them onto a sheet pan lined with parchment paper. Chill for 20 minutes.
• Bake for 20-25 minutes. They should be golden brown and the filling will just be starting to bubble.
• Let your hand pies cool for 10 minutes.
• While your hand pies are cooling, make your glaze. Just whisk the powdered sugar and lemon juice together until smooth.
• Use a pastry brush to brush the thin glaze over the hand pies and enjoy!
• These hand pies taste best the day they are baked but will last for three days in an airtight container in the fridge or frozen for up to 2 months.

GREEK HAND PIES

Steps:

• In a large skillet, brown ground beef, stir in garlic and Greek seasoning and salt. Add zucchini and olives and continue cooking until zucchini just starts to soften. Remove from heat and cool to room temperature.
• Preheat oven to 425. Sprinkle flour over a work surface. Roll out one sheet of dough. Cut dough into circles using a 3-inch biscuit cutter, rerolling scraps as necessary. Repeat with remaining sheet of dough.
• Arrange half of the circles on a baking sheet that has been sprayed with cooking spray. Place a tablespoon of meat mixture on the dough circles, top with roughly a half teaspoon of cheese. Place the other circle halves over the meat and cheese mixture. Pinch edges together with the tines of a fork.
• Combine egg and water in a bowl. Brush egg wash over the top of each hand pie.
• Bake in the oven for 13-15 minutes or just until golden. Remove from oven and let hand pies cool slightly before serving. Serve with tzatziki sauce on the side.
• Store hand pies in the refrigerator in an air-tight container or a zip-top bag.

GREEK HAND PIES

Steps:

• In a large bowl, mix the flour with 3/4 teaspoon of salt. Make a well in the center and add the water, 1/4 cup of the olive oil and the vinegar. Mix until the dough comes together; it will be sticky.
• Transfer the dough to a floured work surface and knead until smooth and no longer tacky, using a pastry scraper to free it from the work surface. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap; refrigerate for 1 hour.
• In a large skillet, heat the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Add the scallions and cook over moderate heat until softened, 3 minutes. Add the greens and cook over high heat, stirring, until wilted, 2 minutes. Stir in the dill, mint and oregano and cook until wilted, 1 minute. Transfer the contents of the skillet to a colander and let cool. When the greens are cool enough to handle, squeeze out any excess liquid.
• In a large bowl, combine the greens with the feta, Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese and the egg. Season the filling with 1/4 teaspoon each of salt and pepper.
• Lightly flour a large, rimmed baking sheet. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface; cut into 4 equal pieces. Roll each piece out to a 9-inch round 1/16 inch thick. Using an 8-inch plate as a template, cut an 8-inch disk from each round. Mound one-fourth of the filling on the lower half of each disk. Fold the dough over to make a half-moon; press the edge of the dough to seal. Using a lightly floured fork, crimp the edges. Transfer the hand pies to the prepared baking sheet.
• In a large skillet, heat 1/4 inch of the vegetable oil over moderately high heat until shimmering. Add 2 pies at a time and fry, turning once, until deep golden brown, about 6 minutes. Drain the pies on paper towels. Serve hot.

GREEK CHEESE PIE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease two 9-inch round cake pans.
• Mix feta cheese and eggs together in a bowl for the filling; set aside.
• Lay out 1 sheet of phyllo on a work surface and brush liberally with olive oil. Top with another sheet and brush with oil. Repeat for a total of 4 sheets, but do not brush the top of the fourth sheet. Transfer the stack of oiled sheets to one of the greased cake pans. Drape over the bottom of the pan, trying not to be too perfect about it; you want some folds and wrinkles in the phyllo.
• Spread 1/2 of the filling over the phyllo in an even layer. Fold the overhanging phyllo over the filling, again letting natural folds and wrinkles occur. Loosely lay 1 sheet of phyllo over the top, brush with oil, and use the oiled brush to pat down the sides all around the circumference of the cake pan.
• Repeat with remaining phyllo, oil, and filling to assemble the second pie.
• Bake the cheese pies in the preheated oven until the tops are a deep golden brown, 45 to 60 minutes. Let cool for 20 minutes before slicing. Serve warm or at room temperature.

SPANAKOPITA HAND PIES

Steps:

• Thaw puff pastry according to package directions.
• Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add onions and cook until soft. Stir in garlic and cook an additional minute.
• Add spinach to skillet, season with salt, basil, and oregano. Stir. Continue to cook spinach until soft and wilted. Remove skillet from heat and allow spinach to cool.
• When spinach has cooled, combined cooked spinach with cottage cheese and crumbled feta.
• Place puff pastry on a floured work space. Roll puff pastry to a 10 x13 in rectangle (approximately).
• Cut each puff pastry sheet into squares (24 total).
• Place a tablespoon of filling on half of the squares and cover with remaining puff pastry squares.
• Press sheets together, wetting fingers if necessary.
• Crimp edges of hand pies with a fork.
• Whisk together the egg and the water and brush egg wash over each pastry. Place tiny slits into each puff pastry top to allow steam to escape.
• Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Refrigerate hand pies for while oven heats.
• Bake hand pies for 20 minutes or until golden brown.