The original recipe was given to me many years ago, by Zoe Evangelou; the recipe was revised by Vali Manouelides, while later I came up with the idea to make bite-size eliopites, as by cutting the roll into thin slices the stuffing often falls off.
See below my new variation for rolls and pies made with the yeasted Yellow Spicy Bread Dough.
Makes about 60 meze bites
Pastry
4 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup olive oil
1 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
Filling
1 tablespoon olive oil
3 1/2 ounces chopped onions or leeks
1/2 pound juicy black olives, pitted (see how)
1 teaspoon dry oregano
3 tablespoons chopped mint leaves
Freshly ground pepper
Sesame seeds (optional)
Make the pastry: In a large bowl stir together the dry ingredients. In another bowl beat together the olive oil and orange juice. Add the liquid to the flour mixture and knead briefly to make a soft dough.
To make the filing warm oil and sauté onion and olives for about 5 minutes. Add the rest of the ingredients – minus the sesame seeds — and sauté a few more minutes. Remove from the heat and let cool.
Preheat oven to 400F (200 C)
Shaping: Divide the dough into 4 pieces. Flatten each piece to make a strip about 16 X 4,5 inches. Place 1/4 of the filling forming a line in the middle of the strip and fold lengthwise to cover, forming a log. Wet the edge and press to seal. With large spatulas transfer to a baking sheet, seam-side down. If you like, sprinkle the working surface with sesame seeds before flattening and shaping the dough.
Alternatively, you can take walnut-size pieces of dough, flatten them in your palm, place 1 teaspoon of the filing in the center, and fold the pastry, wetting and pinching to seal. Place on a baking sheet seam-side up.
Bake for about 30 minutes, or until light golden. Let cool completely before slicing with a good serrated knife, to serve.
VARIATION:
Roll egg-size pieces of Spicy, Yellow Bread Dough making a thin oval, add 3-4 tablespoons of the olive-onion stuffing then roll and cut into 1-inch slices. Bake on a parchment-lined baking dish, cut-side up.
Use pieces of the same bread dough to make larger, empanada-like pies.
I used half barley flour to half all purpose flour in the pastry and the result was delicious! The onion and olive filling is a beautiful combination. Thank you for the recipe.
GREAT idea, Averil! Thanks for sharing your variation with us. I am thrilled when friends take my recipes as the base, to create their own versions. This is exactly the way Mediterranean cooking is; endless variations, depending on the season, and the availability of ingredients.