My husband sent me an urgent email last week about knishes. A co-worker was searching for some and was surprised to find local knishes looking more like a round, perky bao than the knishes she remembered from the East Coast. She wanted to know where in San Francisco she could find a flat knish, but I didn’t know. All the local knishes I’ve come across are round and bun-shaped.

While knishes traditionally are served as half-moon turnovers, there is nothing in the concept of this classic Ashkenazi pastry that restricts its shape. Knishes can be baked or fried, and in Old World Jewish style they are filled with kasha, mashed potatoes and onions, or minced ground meat.  You can make a nice knish dough on your own, or go the easy route and use parve frozen puff pastry cut into 5-inch squares. Pre-cut are very easy to work with. Try a ground turkey filling or break with knish tradition and embrace a spanakopita-like approach.

 

Cumin-Coriander Meat Knish

Makes 16 as appetizers

1 pkg. puff pastry (8 squares), thawed at room temperature

2 Tbs. olive oil

1 cup white or yellow onion, chopped

2 tsp. garlic, minced

11/2 tsp. ground cumin

1 tsp. ground coriander

1/4 tsp. ground cardamom

1 Tbs. tomato paste

6 oz. ground turkey

3/4 tsp. salt

plenty of freshly ground black pepper

1/4 cup parsley leaves

1 egg beaten with 1 Tbs. water to make an egg wash

Set puff pastry out to thaw at room temperature. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Heat olive oil till hot but not smoking. Sauté onion for 5 minutes over medium heat. Add garlic, cumin, coriander and cardamom. Sauté 2 minutes. Remove from heat and cool. In a food processor, combine cooled onion and spice mixture, tomato paste, ground turkey, salt and pepper. Pulse until just combined. Transfer to a bowl and stir in parsley.

Cut each puff pastry square into two triangles. Place 1 tsp. turkey filling in center of triangle and fold dough over (stretching a bit to shape) to create a smaller triangular pocket. Pinch edges tightly to seal. Arrange on greased baking sheet. Brush with egg wash. Bake for 18-20 minutes until golden and filling is cooked through.

 

Spinach Knish

Makes 8 sandwich-style knishes

1 pkg. puff pastry (8 squares), thawed at room temperature

1 Tbs. olive oil

1/3 cup onion, chopped

2 tsp. garlic, minced

1/4 tsp. ground cumin

1/8 tsp. ground cinnamon

8 oz. frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed dry

1/4 cup garbanzo beans (from a can, drained)

pinch of nutmeg

1 Tbs. fresh dill

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. sugar

plenty of freshly ground black pepper

3 Tbs. cream

1/4 cup crumbled feta cheese

1 egg beaten with 1 Tbs. water to make an egg wash

Set puff pastry out to thaw at room temperature. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Heat olive oil till hot but not smoking. Sauté onion for 5 minutes over medium heat. Add garlic, cumin and cinnamon. Sauté 1 minute. Add spinach and sauté 3 minutes. Remove from heat. In a food processor, combine onion and spice, garbanzo beans, nutmeg, dill, salt, sugar and black pepper. Pulse to chop fine. Add cream and quickly pulse to combine. Transfer to bowl and stir in feta cheese.

Place 2-3 Tbs. spinach filling in center of each puff pastry square, and fold dough over to create a large triangular pocket. Pinch edges tightly to seal. Arrange on greased baking sheet. Brush with egg wash. Bake for 18-20 minutes until golden.

Josie A.G. Shapiro who won the 2013 Man-O-Manischewitz Cookoff, is the co-author of “The Lazy Gourmet.” Her columns alternate with those of Faith Kramer. Her website is www.thechickencontests.com.