Garlicky Greens with Pomegranate Molasses and Anise Crust

Last year, on my now languishing food blog (RIP Thought for Food - perhaps you will inform again someday), I would occasionally post the contents of our CSA (Consumer/Community Supported Agriculture) bag and share some of the recipes I used. This past Saturday marked the first CSA bag this season, breaking my long, winter demotivation for cooking. This recipe is a Frankenstein's Monster inspired by a greens pastry made by Zaytoon and using pieces of a Cooking Light empanada recipe and an OregonLive.com greens recipe. This is not fast but it's mighty tasty.

Garlicky Greens with Pomegranate Molasses and Anise Crust

• 9 Tb hot water
• 1 star anise pod
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 4 whole peppercorns
• 2 lb greens (I used braising greens and spinach; kale, collards and chard would also be good), stems removed, torn into big pieces (Note: keep greens separated by cook time, i.e. kale takes about 5 minutes in the steamer but spinach takes 1 minute-ish).
• 1 Tb extra-virgin olive oil
• 4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
• 1/4 tp crushed red pepper flakes
• 1 small red onion, sliced thinly, vertically
• 1/4 tp kosher or sea salt
• 2 Tb pomegranate molasses (available at halal markets, e.g. Jerusalem Market)
• 2 Tb lemon juice or the minced peel from 1/4 preserved lemon
• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour (available at Earth Fare or Deep Roots or you can use another cup of all purpose)
• 1 tp baking powder
• 1/2 tp sugar
• 1/2 tp salt
• 2 Tb butter, chilled, in small pieces
  

Steep anise, cinnamon and peppercorns in hot water until it cools to room temperature - you can refrigerate towards the end.

Wash greens by swishing in a bowl of cool water. Lift greens into a colander (don't pour - it just dumps the dirt back on top); repeat swishing and draining until there's no dirt at the bottom of the wash bowl. Bring 2 cups of water to a boil in a pot; add greens and cover, starting with those with the longest cooking time. Allow to wilt completely, probably no more than 5 - 6 minutes. Shock in cold water then drain in colander, pressing out excess liquid with the back of a spoon.

Wipe the pot dry; heat oil over medium heat. Add garlic and crushed pepper flakes; saute, stirring frequently, until garlic is lightly golden, 2 to 3 minutes. Add onion and salt and cook until onions are soft and beginning to brown, about 4 minutes.

Squeeze the remaining liquid from greens and add to pot with onion mixture, breaking up clumps of greens. Drizzle with pomegranate molasses and cook until just heated through. Add lemon juice or peel. Set aside.

This would be perfectly lovely to eat without a crust but...

To make the crust, strain spices out of steeped water.

Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Place flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt in a food processor; pulse 2 times to combine. Add butter; process until mixture resembles coarse meal. With processor on, slowly pour spiced water through food chute; process just until dough begins to form a ball (dough will be crumbly).

Preheat oven to 400.

Divide dough into 2 equal portions. Working with one dough portion at a time, press dough into a 4-inch circle on heavy-duty plastic wrap (There's a lot of plastic wrap in this section - you can also get reusable plastic and burlap pastry bags). Cover with additional plastic wrap. Place dough in freezer 5 minutes or until plastic wrap can be easily removed.

Slightly overlap 2 sheets of plastic wrap on a slightly damp surface. Unwrap 1 dough portion; place on plastic wrap. Cover dough with 2 additional sheets of overlapping plastic wrap. Roll dough, still covered, into an 11-inch circle. Repeat procedure with remaining dough. Place both portions in freezer for 5 minutes or until plastic wrap can be easily removed.

Remove plastic wrap from 1 dough portion; place dough, plastic wrap side up, into a pie plate coated with cooking spray (I use a pump that I fill with olive oil). Remove top sheets of plastic wrap. Spoon filling onto dough. Remove top sheets of plastic wrap from remaining dough. Place dough, plastic wrap side up, over filling. Remove top sheets of plastic wrap. Pinch edges of dough together to seal. Cut several slits in top of dough to allow steam to escape. Spray crust top with cookie spray.

Bake at 400° for 30 minutes or until crust is crisp and beginning to brown.

6-8 servings