Kousa Mahshi (vegetarian version) and Spinach Fatayer.....Two Of My Favourite Lebanese Dishes.....

Spinach Fatayer

 Kousa Mahshi

I have a Lebanese friend that has been key in understanding and trying new dishes that comes from that part of the world. At her home, I have tried two dishes that I really like that are Kousa Mahshi and Spinach Fatayer. I really like them!!

I thought they will be difficult to make, but I was wrong. Both are easy to make, and yummy to eat.

Although Kousa Mahshi is made with meat, my friend does not eat meat. Therefore, the recipe that I have is with red lentils instead of meat. You can change the lentils for ground meat.

Kousa Mashi

8 zucchini
1 cup rice short grain
1/4 cup of pine nuts
1/4 cup of red lentils
Salt
Pepper
1/4 cup chopped Mint leaves
1/4 cup chopped Parsley
4 Garlic (chopped)
4 Tablespoons of Lemon juice
5 tomatoes (peeled, chopped, and without seeds) or 1 can of tomatoes
Water

Wash the zucchini, and carefully hollow out using a knife. Set aside.

You can use the following video....Thanks to Youtube!!

Wash the rice, mix it with the red lentils, and cook it for 10 minutes with 1 cup of water. The rice has to be half-way cooked. Let it cool.

Mix the rice and lentils with pine nuts, mint, parsley, salt, pepper, 1 garlic, and 1 tablespoon of lemon juice. Start filling the zucchinis. While you are filling the zucchinis, you have to shake them in order to distribute the filling.

Chop the tomatoes, and blend them until they have the consistency of a pure. Mix it with two cups of water. Let it boil. Once it is boiling, add salt, pepper, the remaining garlic and lemon juice. Place the filled zucchinis inside this tomato sauce. The quantity of this sauce will depend on the number of zucchinis, and your pot. The tomato sauce has to cover the zucchinis.

 

Let it cook for 1 hour at low temperature. Serve it with sauce and plain thick yoghurt. Enjoy!!

Spinach Fatayer

Dough:

2 cups of all-purpose flour (more flour to work the dough)

1/2 cup olive oil
1 teaspoon dry yeast
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
1 egg
1 cup warm water (and a little bit more if you need)

Filling:
1 large bag of spinach (washed and chopped)
3 Tablespoon olive oil

1 teaspoon salt
1 red onion (chopped)

1 1/2 teaspoon of sumac
1 teaspoon of zataar
3 Tablespoon of lemon juice

Mix the water, yeast, and sugar. Let it foam for 7 minutes. Place the flour in a bowl, and incorporate the salt, egg, and olive oil. Add the water with the yeast, and mix it well until you have dough that can be roll with a rolling pin. Cover the bowl, and let it rest for 1 hour.

Wash and chop the spinach. Sprinkle the salt over the spinach, and let it rest for 20 minutes to take the water out.

In a pan, heat olive oil and cook the onion with zaatar. Let it cool.

Squeeze the spinach (as much as you can), and mix it with the sumac and lemon juice. Add the onion with the zaatar, and the olive oil. Adjust salt and sumac if needed (it has to be salty and sour).

Work your dough with a rolling pin.  Cut circles of ½ cm thickness, and 10 centimetres of a diameter. Place a tablespoon of the filling in the center of the dough, and take the sides up to form a triangle (tight the edges with your fingers!!).

Brush the fatayer with olive oil, and bake them in a preheated oven at 400F for 25-35 minutes, or until they are golden. Enjoy!!