Spinach Boureg

Typically when you hear Boureg you think of phyllo dough or puff pastry that has been filled with cheese. With this dish the dough has been stuffed with spinach, walnuts, onions, and spices! This is a healthy dish and it's a good one to keep in the fridge to snack on. I actually prefer to eat it at room temperature rather than heating it up. It's so good! This recipe does leave you with a lot of extra dough so you can fill the remaining dough with cheese and make cheese boureg if you'd like!

Ingredients:

• 2 bunches of fresh spinach
• 1/2 a yellow onion
• 1/4 of a cup finely chopped unsalted raw walnuts
• Salt
• Pepper
• Ground Red Pepper (Garmeer Buber)
• 3 tablespoons Tahini
• 2 1/2 tablespoons freshly squeeze lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil
• 3 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 6 tablespoons Mazola corn oil
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 1/2 cups water

Prepare the Filling:

• Chop the spinach into small thin strips and put it in a strainer
• Mix in 1 teaspoon of salt to the spinach and let it stand for 10 minutes. this will help break down the spinach a bit
• Run water over the spinach to wash off some of the salt
• Squeeze the water out of the spinach and pat it dry and put it in a large mixing bowl

• Chop half a yellow onion into thin strips that are about 1 inch long and put in a strainer
• Add 1 teaspoon of salt to the onions and let it sit for 10 minutes. this will help break down the onions similarly to the spinach
• Run water over the onions to wash off some of the salt
• Squeeze the water of the onions and then add the onion to the mixing bowl that has the spinach

• Add 1/4 of a cup finely chopped raw walnuts to the bowl
• Add 3 tablespoons of tahini to the bowl
• Add 2 1/2 tablespoons of freshly squeezed lemon juice to the bowl
• Add 1/2 teaspoon of salt to the bowl
• Add 1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil to the bowl
• Add 1 teaspoon of ground red pepper (garmeer beeber) to the bowl
• Add 1/4 teaspoon of black pepper to the bowl
• Mix all the ingredients together

Prepare the Dough:

• Add 3 1/2 cups of all purpose flour to a mixing bowl
• Add 6 tablespoons of Mazola corn oil and mix with your hands
• Add 1 teaspoon of baking powder
• Add 1 1/2 cups of water slowly while continuing to mix to bring the dough together
• Continue to knead the dough until it comes together and forms a ball
• Cover the dough with saran wrap directly touching the dough in the bowl and let it rest for 20 minutes

Assembling the Bouregs:

• Separate the dough into 5 pieces and form them into balls
• Start with 1 piece while the others stay covered so they don't dry out
• Add flour to your board and start rolling out the piece of dough using a rolling pin until the dough becomes very thin. Continue to add flour as needed as it will help open up the dough easier

• Use a small plate or cookie cutter thats about 4.5 inches in diameter to cut out circles
• Add a spoonful of the spinach filling into the center of each circle
• Bring 3 sides of the circle and pinch together on the edges and center to form a triangle
• Continue this process with all your dough pieces (Note: you will mostly likely have a lot of left over dough so feel free to add cheese or anything else you like if you run out of the spinach filling)

Cooking the Bouregs:

• Align the bouregs on a cookie sheet that has been sprayed with non-stick spray
• Whisk 1 egg in a bowl and brush the tops of the boureg with the egg mixture. This will give it a nice shine after it cooks
• Cook in the oven at 375 degrees until golden brown