Skillet pancakes folded around a spiced spinach and onion filling, inspired by Egyptian fatayer hand pies.
Fatayer are traditionally small hand pies, dough pockets stuffed with spinach, cheese or meat and baked until golden, common across Egypt and the broader Levant. This dish borrows fatayer's classic spinach filling -- spinach cooked down with onion, sumac and lemon -- but wraps it in a quick savory pancake instead of yeasted dough, giving home cooks the same flavor profile with a fraction of the prep time. The filling relies on squeezing excess water out of the cooked spinach before it goes into the pancake, a step that keeps the batter from turning soggy and helps the sumac's tart, lemony flavor stay concentrated rather than diluted. Sumac is the ingredient that most defines this filling's character, lending a bright, slightly fruity acidity that plain lemon juice alone doesn't fully replicate. Cooked on a hot skillet until golden on both sides, these pancakes fold neatly in half around the warm spinach filling, delivering fatayer's familiar combination of savory greens and tangy sumac in a format suited to a quick breakfast or light lunch.
Serves 4
Whisk flour, egg, milk and salt together until smooth. Let rest 10 minutes while you prepare the filling.
Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a skillet over medium heat and cook onion until soft and translucent, about 5 minutes.
Add spinach in batches, stirring until fully wilted, about 4 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool slightly, then squeeze out as much excess liquid as possible.
Squeezing the spinach dry in a clean towel is essential -- skipping this step leaves the filling watery and makes the pancakes soggy.
Mix the squeezed spinach with sumac, lemon juice, feta and salt. Set aside.
Heat remaining oil in a nonstick skillet over medium heat. Pour a ladle of batter, swirl to coat thinly, and cook 2 minutes per side until lightly golden and set.
Spoon the spinach filling onto half of each pancake, fold over, and serve warm.
Squeeze the cooked spinach as dry as possible before mixing it with the other filling ingredients -- this is the single biggest factor in keeping the pancakes from turning soggy.
Let the batter rest for 10 minutes before cooking; it relaxes the gluten and makes the pancakes easier to swirl thin.
Use a good nonstick skillet or well-seasoned crepe pan so the thin pancakes release cleanly without tearing.
Cheese-forward version: increase the feta to half a cup and add a tablespoon of grated halloumi for extra richness.
Meat filling: swap the spinach for cooked spiced ground beef mixed with onion and pine nuts, in the style of meat fatayer.
Herb-only version: skip the feta and stir in extra fresh dill or parsley for a lighter, herb-forward filling.
Refrigerate filled pancakes up to 2 days in an airtight container. Reheat in a dry skillet over medium-low heat rather than the microwave, which can make them rubbery.
Fatayer are a well-established part of Egyptian and Levantine home baking, typically made as small stuffed dough pastries; this pancake adaptation keeps the traditional spinach-and-sumac filling while changing the format to a quicker stovetop dish.
Yes, thaw and squeeze it very dry first -- frozen spinach holds even more water than fresh, so this step matters even more.
A mix of lemon zest and a pinch of extra lemon juice approximates sumac's tartness, though it won't have quite the same fruity, slightly floral note.
This usually means they were cooked a little too long and dried out -- pull them off the heat as soon as the surface looks set but still slightly moist looking.
Per serving (200g / 7.1 oz) · 4 servings total
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