Cretan Pastries with Courgettes, Mint and Feta

It's that time of year, a glut of courgettes. I started using the ones from my garden to make these lovely Cretan pastries. The recipe said that it served 4, so I halved the recipe and I ended up with 15 of them! They are small but I only managed to eat 3 for lunch! So I'd say they served more like 8! Although if you have a hungry man maybe less people! It take a bit of time to make them but actually really simple.

Cretan Pastries with Courgettes, Mint and Feta (from The Times Magazine)
(Serves 6-8)

500g flour
100ml olive oil
1 tsp salt
lukewarm water

for the filling
4 medium courgettes, grated
150g feta, crumbled
3 tbsp mint, shredded
300ml oil for frying

Put the flour into a bowl, pour in the olive oil and the salt. Mix by hand, slowly adding lukewarm water until you have a smooth elastic dough. It should be soft but not sticky. Cover the dough with a damp cloth and leave it to rest for 30 mins.

Put the courgette into a bowl, season with salt and leave for 10 mins. Meanwhile, put the feta and mint into another bowl. Put the grated courgette into a clean tea-towel, gather up the edges and squeeze the liquid out of the courgette, and add to the feta and mint. Season with pepper.

Dust board or counter top with flour and roll the pastry out as thinly as you can. Use a small bowl, about 10cm in diameter, to cut out the discs and dust with flour to stop them sticking. Place 1 tbsp of the filling in the centre of each disc. Close them gently in half and press the edges with a form to seal the edges.

Heat the oil in a frying pan over a medium heat. When it is hot add the pastries and cook gently on both sides until golden. Remove from the pan and place on kitchen roll to absorb the excess oil. Serve.