Purim is all about the sweets. After all, what could be better than celebrating the saving of the Jewish people in ancient times by eating sweet stuffed pastries and sending some to your friends in the Mishloach Manot.
But if your sweet tooth needs a rest after trying all the new and exciting fillings for hamantaschen, here’s a way of keeping the spirit of the holiday while offering your palette another flavor. Why not try eggplant & feta or cheese & rosemary hamantaschen? they still have the traditional triangle shape, supposedly reminding us for Haman’s hat, but are served as an appetizer instead of a dessert.
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minutesThe dough recipe is enough for either the eggplant & feta filling or the cheese & rosemary filling (30 hamantaschen), so choose either one filling. Or double the dough recipe and make the two filling options (and make 60 hamantaschen.)
Kashkaval is a hard mild cheese from the Balkan and is available at some Eastern European and Middle Eastern stores.
INGREDIENTS
- For the dough
2½ cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
1 teaspoon kosher salt
Pinch nutmeg
12 tablespoons (2 sticks) cold butter
1 egg
6 tablespoons cold water
- First option: eggplant & feta filling
1 regular eggplant
Kosher salt
½ yellow onion, chopped
3 tablespoons olive oil
4 oz. crumbled feta
1 egg, lightly beaten
½ cup labneh or strained Greek yogurt
!/4 cup chopped pistachio
1 teaspoon fresh thyme
- Second option: cheese & rosemary filling
Ingredients
3 oz grated kashkaval, pecorino or parmesan cheese
6 oz. crumbled feta
6 oz. hand-dipped ricotta
1 teaspoon finely chopped rosemary
1 egg, lightly beaten
¼ cup olive tapenade
1 tomato, chopped
1 teaspoon olive oil
Pinch kosher salt
DIRECTIONS
- Make the dough
- Combine the flour, salt and nutmeg in a bowl of a food processor. Mix for 1 minute. Cut cold butter into the bowl. Pulse to create crumbs.
- Add egg and pulse just until crumbs are formed. Add cold water and mix to create a ball of dough.
- Divide the dough in two; gather into 2 disks and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 30 minutes and up to a day.
- To make the eggplant & feta filling
- Peel eggplant, dice to ½ inch cubes, put in a a large colander over a bowl and liberally sprinkle each layer with kosher salt. Let stand for 30 minutes and up to two hours. Wash with water, set aside.
- In a large skillet over medium-high heat, sauté onion in olive oil until translucent, about 3 minutes. Add eggplant and ½ cup water, cover, reduce heat and continue to cook until very tender, about 8 minutes. Remove lid, and cook until liquid evaporates.
- Transfer eggplant to a bowl, mix in feta and set aside until it cools down.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Have a 3-inch cookie cutter at hand. Lightly dust the working surface with flour. Roll out the first half-portion of dough on the floured surface as thin as possible (about ⅛” thin). Dip the cookie cutter into flour and cut out circles of dough. Re-roll the dough as needed.
- Use a teaspoon to mound a small amount of the filling in the center of each circle. Lift and pinch the edges of each circle in 3 places spaced evenly apart, to create a triangle; the filling will be partially exposed in the center. Arrange on the baking sheet, spacing them an inch apart. Brush hamantaschen with beaten egg, which will give it a nice color and prevent hamantaschen from opening up during baking.
- Bake for for 20-22 minutes or until the pastries are just turning light-golden on the edges. Flip between the two baking sheets after 10 minutes, for even baking.
- Transfer the pastries to a wire rack to cool for a few minutes. To decorate before serving, top each hamantaschen with a small dollop of labneh, sprinkle with pistachio and thyme and serve.
- Keep undecorated hamantaschen in a sealed container in the fridge up to a week. Reheat at 325 degrees for 8-10 minutes before serving.
- To make the cheese & rosemary filling
- In a medium bowl mix kashkaval, feta, ricotta and rosemary.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Have a 3-inch cookie cutter at hand. Liberally dust the working surface with flour. Roll out the first half-portion of dough on the floured surface as thin as possible (about 1/16” thin). Dip the cookie cutter into flour and cut out circles of dough. Re-roll the dough as needed.
- Use a teaspoon to mound a small amount of the filling in the center of each circle. Lift and pinch the edges of each circle in 3 places spaced evenly apart, to create a triangle; the filling will be partially exposed in the center. Arrange on the baking sheet, spacing them an inch apart. Brush hamantaschen with beaten egg, which will give it a nice color and prevent hamantaschen from opening up during baking.
- Bake for 20-22 minutes or until the pastries are just turning light-golden on the edges. Flip between the two baking sheets after 10 minutes, for even baking.
- Transfer the pastries to a wire rack to cool for a few minutes. To decorate before serving, top half the hamantaschen with a small dollop of tapenade, and the other half with a mix of tomatoes, olive oil and salt.
- Keep undecorated hamantaschen in a sealed container in the fridge up to a week. Reheat at 325 degrees for 10 minutes before serving.