Spigariello Skillet Pies

Ingredients

• 2 1/4 cup flour
• olive oil
• 1 Tablespoon red wine vinegar
• 1 bunch scallions, sliced thinly
• 1 large bunch spigariello, chopped
• 1 bunch dill, chopped
• 1 bunch mint, leaves only, chopped
• leaves from 8 springs oregano, chopped
• 4 oz feta, crumbled
• Parmesan
• 1 egg
• grapeseed oil (or canola)

Recipe Notes:

This is Mediterranean take on a fried, vegetarian empanada. There are a few steps involved, but each one is simple, even the dough, so it’s worth making. You can make these any size, so don’t feel like you have to go as large as these are. Also, feel free to substitute a different green for this – chard or rapini will both do nicely. The herb combination is a simple one made up of herbs I see in the market all the time. Feel free to modify these however you like. I think even using one herb would work. I love marjoram and parsley together in this if you can find marjoram.

From Chef Jonathan Miller

Directions

Combine the flour with a teaspoon of salt and mix well. Add 3/4 c water, 1/4 c olive oil, and the vinegar to the flour/salt mixture and mix well. The dough should be a little sticky. Knead on a floured board until the dough is silky smooth, then allow it to chill in the fridge for about an hour (or overnight is fine).

Heat a few tablespoons of olive oil in a saucepan and add the scallions and cook just until soft, a couple of minutes, then add the spigariello and wilt the spigariello, maybe 5-8 minutes. Add the herbs for the last minute, then transfer everything to a colander and allow to cool. Squeeze the cooked greens and herbs so you extract most of the water. Combine those greens with feta, a few tablespoons of parmesan and an egg, mixing well. Season with salt and pepper and taste to make sure you like it.

Quarter the dough, and roll each piece out into a very thin disk, about 8 inches or so in diameter. Fill each round with a quarter of the greens filling and fold the dough over it into half moon shapes. Crimp the edges to seal.

In a very large skillet, heat some grapeseed oil until very hot, then add 1-2 pies (depending on the size of your skillet) and pan-fry them in the hot oil until deeply colored. Flip, and fry the other side until deeply brown. Do the other pies the same way and serve warm.