Spinach Feta Cheese Cups

I wanted to make a cheesy feta spinach cups, so I adapted a couple of my other recipes. I was looking for an easily handled dough that I could roll thin and use for a wrapper for a cheesy spinach feta filling.

Ingredients:

Dough:

• 16 ounces sourdough starter (or 8 ounces water + 8 ounces flour +c1/2 teaspoon yeast)
  
• 6 ounces lukewarm water
• 3   teaspoons instant yeast
• 3  teaspoons (38g) sugar
• 1/2 cup canola or olive oil
• 254    gr All-Purpose Flour (9 ounces, ~2 mounded cup)
•  1 cup (90 g) dried potato flakes (from instant mashed potatoes)
• 1/2 cup nonfat milk powder
• 1 teaspoon salt

Filling:

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/2 a large Vidalia onion, chopped (about 2 cups)
  
• 5 ounces (150 gr) baby spinach, chopped
  
• 9 ounces (270 gr) cottage cheese, drained
  (I drained it for an hour or so over in a colander over paper towels)
  
• 4 ounces (120 gr) feta, crumbled
• optional -  6 marinated artichoke hearts , diced (about 1/2 cup after dicing)
  
• 1 - 3 teaspoons fresh basil, sliced
  
• 1 - 3 teaspoons fresh oregano, sliced (or 2 or 3 leaves Spansh thyme)
  
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
  
  
• Egg wash: Whisk an egg and a tablespoon of milk together.
  

 

Instructions:

1. Make the dough: Mix sourdough starter, water, yeast, and sugar together in the bowl of a stand mixer. Let proof for 5 minutes or so.
2. Add oil and mix in.
3. Stir in potato flakes until well incorporated.
4. Knead in flour,  milk powder, and salt for about 5 minutes, adding up 4 tablespoons more water as needed to make a smooth, silky dough.
   
5. Place dough in a greased bowl, and let rise for 60 minutes or until doubled.
   (Or mix up in a bread machine on dough cycle)
   
   
6. Make the filling: About 10 minutes before the dough rising is complete,  saute the onions in 1 tablespoon of olive oil  in a large 12" skillet.
7. Add in spinach, and saute until spinach wilts and releases moisture. Let cool a bit.
   
8. Whirr drained cottage cheese, feta, basil, oregano, pepper and garlic together in a food processor.
9. (Add in the chopped artichokes if you are using them)
   
10. Add in spinach and onion mix, whirr until mostly smooth.
    
    
11. Assemble the rolls: Spray the wells of two 12 count cupcake pans with cooking spray.
    
12. Roll each piece of dough out into a 15" x 20" in rectangle - the dough will be thin.
13.  Cut each dough sheet into 12 pieces.
    
    
    
    
14. Drape each piece into a well of the cupcake pan. I tried to leave out two opposite points.
    
    
    
    
15.  Scoop an over-full large cookie of filling into each dough cup.
16. Pull the ends of the dough up over the filling, and pinch together. (It is ok if some filling shows.)
14. Let the rolls rise for about 45 minutes to 1 hour until they have puffed up, and are about 1/2 inch over the top of the pan. 
14. Brush the exposed dough with the egg wash.
    
15. About 45 minutes into the rising time, pre-heat the oven to 350 F.
16. Once the rolls have puffed up, place first pan in oven and bake for 15 minutes.
    
17. After 15 minutes, move first pan down to a lower rack, rotate it, and place second pan in oven.
    (Optionally brush on more egg wash on the first pan of rolls.)
    
18. Remove first pan from the oven after baking for a total of 30 minutes. Let the second pan cook for another 15 minutes.
    (Optionally brush on remaining egg wash on the last pan of rolls.)
19. Let the rolls cool in the pans for at least 5 minutes.
20. Carefully remove the from the pans, finish cooling on a wire rack.
    

Carole's Notes:

We liked this! These turned out to have a good amount of filling within the dough.

The dough is from https://carolelikesroundfood.blogspot.com/2020/02/sourdough-star-cheese-bread.html  and the filling is from