Greek Spinach Tarts

I heart puff pastry. I mean – it’s awesome. I don’t understand why anyone would ever make it because it’s just so fantastically flaky and perfect and comes right out of the box. You can also do about a bajillion things with it (roughly a bajillion – give or take). These cuties are a somewhat unusual size but I can tell you lots of ways they’d be just perfect. A holiday buffet? These are a bit bigger than bite-sized but they’re vegetarian and chock-full of veggies, which could make a nice side dish. They could take the shape of a quiche and be nice for brunch, served with bacon, fruit and lightly dressed greens.

Want to make them the perfect size for appetizers? Do everything the same except cut them into 16 squares (cut 4 x 4) and form them in a mini-muffin pan! They will be just as beautiful but friends can just pop them into their mouths!

You can form them and freeze them before baking – then just bake from frozen (adding a few minutes as needed). You can also fully bake them, cool them to room temp, and freeze them. All you’ll need is about 10-15 minutes in a 300 degree oven to thaw and toast them back up.

Make -ahead is what’s up for the holidays, and these spinach tarts are sure to impress (when in reality they take no time at all and contain mostly pantry staples). A word on puff pastry? Dufour and Trader Joes have the tastiest brands (all butter vs. Pepperidge Farms which is made with some shortening). Thaw several hours in the fridge for about 30 minutes at room temperature.

Greek Spinach Tarts

Makes 9 muffin-size tarts

16 oz. frozen spinach, thawed

2/3 c. crumbled feta

1/2 c. minced onion

1 tbsp. olive oil

3 garlic cloves, minced

¼ tsp. kosher salt

¼ tsp. pepper

zest from 1/2 a lemon

3 large eggs, divided

1 sheet puff pastry

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Using your hands, squeeze spinach until try, forcing out as much water as possible (you should be left with about 1 c. drained spinach).

2. Mix spinach and next 7 ingredients in a medium bowl. In a small bowl, beat 2 eggs to blend; fold into spinach mixture.

3. Cut puff pastry into 3 equal strips, and cut each strip into 3 squares (9 total). Lightly mist muffin pan with nonstick spray and press each square into a different hole, keeping corners out.

4. Divide filling between dough. Fold pastry over filling, pressing corners together to meet in the center.

5. Beat remaining egg and brush pastry with egg.

6. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown.

7. Let cool in pan for about 10 minutes, then serve.