A savory twist on the Hanukkah favorite, these savory sufganiyot are filled with rainbow chard, sweet raisins and savory feta.
It's Hanukkah season = all things fried! We fry just about everything and anything during these coming weeks! Of course latkes get all the attention, which are great, Mom's Crispy Potato Latkes are awesome...more fried potatoes..yes please! But it's sufganiyot that are actually more popular in Israel..aka the Jew donut, but not really..it's really a jelly filled donut!
Now if you know me well, you know I always try to savory-ify anything and everything. My salty tooth is much stronger than my sweet tooth and I'll down some salty potatoes over a sweet donut any day..but what if we tried to saltify the donut? Stuff it with freshly sauteed veggies, sharp feta cheese instead of the overly sweet, jelly filling? Well....I present to you...the savory sufganiyot!
I must say, I am pretty proud of the plumpness that I created. The perfectly light and airy, savory sufganiyot, with small air pockets inside, perfectly fried on the outside. Not too heavy and easy enough to down a few, the filling is what really takes the cake. Or the donut...or the sufganiyot.
This inspiration wouldn't have been as amazing without the abundance of fresh chard. I absolutely love hearty greens and use them in a number of recipes. Kale and soba salad, winter sweet potato salad and one of my most recent creations...kale falafel! (You know, just to give you few ideas if you're over frying).
For this recipe, I decided to stuff my savory sufganiyot with rainbow chard, raisins and feta. A very popular Sephardic pairing, with the sweet and savory. The chard is already prepped and washed and ready for sauteing, but for this recipe, I opted to chop it just a bit more to fit into the donut better.
Here is a step by step on how I created this savory sufganiyot.
Method:
1) First, make the dough. In the bowl of a stand mixer, add yeast, sugar and warm water. Mix with a fork to get all the yeast in the water and allow to sit for about 15 minutes until it gets all foamy and bubbly. That's when you know the yeast is activated.
2) Next, in another bowl, sift together the flour and salt. Add eggs, lemon zest and gently mix the eggs into the flour.
3) Add the flour and egg mixture to the yeast and use a dough hook to begin mixing everything together. You may have to use a spatula to push flour into the mixture, so check. Continue mixing for a few minutes until the dough comes together and starts to look smooth and forms a ball. Next, add butter, a few tablespoons at a time. If it's too sticky, add some more flour, up to ¼ cup. It should look mostly smooth.
4) At this point, I like to knead the dough my hand to see how it feels. Turn the dough on a lightly floured surface and knead by hand for a few minutes. I wound up adding ¼ cup more of flour, slowly until it looked smooth and slightly sticky. When done, form the dough into a ball and place in a lightly oiled bowl. Cover with a towel and place in a warm spot to double in volume.
5) While dough is rising, make the filling. Drizzle a bit of olive oil in a skillet and on medium heat saute onion until lightly browned, about 5-8 minutes. Then chop the chard leaves into fine pieces and remove any large, hard stems. Add chopped chard and saute until wilted. Add raisins and season with salt and pepper. Saute for another minute until raisins plump up. Reserve to a bowl and add crumbled feta and toss to combine.
6) Now check on the dough and once it's doubled in volume, punch it down and turn it onto a lightly floured surface. It will feel a bit oily and that's ok. Roll it out to ¼ inch thickness and use a round 2 inch cookie cutter and cut circles (or any glass will work too).
7) Take 1 of the circles and place about 1 Tb of filling in circle. Then top with another dough circle, crimping or folding the edges, making sure there are no holes and it is sealed very well. You can also use some water to help seal the edges. When done, place on a baking sheet.
8)Bring oil to about 360-365 degrees F. A candy thermometer is highly recommended! Once oil is hot enough, slowly place 2-3 sufganiyot in the hot oil. Fry one 1 side for about 2 minutes until golden brown and gently flip to the other side and fry for another 1-2 minutes until golden brown and puffed up. When done, place on a paper-towel lined baking sheet and sprinkle with salt. Serve immediately.
Savory Sufganiyot with Swiss Chard and Raisins
LittleFerraroKitchen.com
Ingredients
Dough
- 1 packet dry yeast
- 2 Tb sugar
- ¾ cup warm water
- 2 ½ cups flour + more for kneading
- Pinch of salt + more for garnish
- 2 eggs
- 2 Tb butter softened
- 1 Tb lemon zest
Filling
- 4 cups Rainbow Chard or spinach stems removed
- ¼ red onion chopped finely
- ½ cup raisins
- ¼ cup feta crumbled
- Salt and pepper to taste
Frying Ingredients
- 4 cups vegetable or canola oil for frying (or 1 32oz bottle)
Instructions
- First, make the dough. In the bowl of a stand mixer, add yeast, sugar and warm water. Mix with a fork to get all the yeast in the water and allow to sit for about 15 minutes until it gets all foamy and bubbly. That's when you know the yeast is activated.
- Next, in another bowl, sift together the flour and salt. Add eggs, lemon zest and gently mix the eggs into the flour.
- Add the flour and egg mixture to the yeast and use a dough hook to begin mixing everything together. You may have to use a spatula to push flour into the mixture, so check. Continue mixing for a few minutes until the dough comes together and starts to look smooth and forms a ball. Next, add butter, a few tablespoons at a time. If it's too sticky, add some more flour, up to ¼ cup. It should look mostly smooth.
- At this point, I like to knead the dough my hand to see how it feels. Turn the dough on a lightly floured surface and knead by hand for a few minutes. I wound up adding ¼ cup more of flour, slowly until it looked smooth and slightly sticky. When done, form the dough into a ball and place in a lightly oiled bowl. Cover with a towel and place in a warm spot to double in volume.
- While dough is rising, make the filling. Drizzle a bit of olive oil in a skillet and on medium heat saute onion until lightly browned, about 5-8 minutes. Then chop the rainbow chard into fine pieces and remove any large, hard stems. Add chopped chard and saute until wilted. Add raisins and season with salt and pepper. Saute for another minute until raisins plump up. Reserve to a bowl and add crumbled feta and toss to combine.
- Now check on the dough and once it's doubled in volume, punch it down and turn it onto a lightly floured surface. It will feel a bit oily and that's ok. Roll it out to ¼ inch thickness and use a round 2 inch cookie cutter and cut circles (or any glass will work too).
- Take 1 of the circles and place about 1 Tb of filling in circle. Then top with another dough circle, crimping or folding the edges, making sure there are no holes and it is sealed very well. You can also use some water to help seal the edges. When done, place on a baking sheet.
- Bring oil to about 360-365 degrees F. A candy thermometer is highly recommended! Once oil is hot enough, slowly place 2-3 sufganiyot in the hot oil. Fry one 1 side for about 2 minutes until golden brown and gently flip to the other side and fry for another 1-2 minutes until golden brown and puffed up. When done, place on a paper-towel lined baking sheet and sprinkle with salt. Serve immediately.
Dorothy at Shockingly Delicious says
Wow, I've had sufganiyot a couple of time but never made them myself. I love the idea of a savory inside. This is going to be a new classic!
Samantha says
Yay so glad you like it!