Savory Persian Herb and Cheese Hamantaschen. Photo by Peggy Grodinsky

When it comes to Jewish holidays, their associated food and the media, Passover and Hanukkah get all the love. Purim, which begins at sundown on Thursday, March 13, and celebrates Queen Esther saving the Jewish people in ancient Persia, is, at least in my experience as an Ashkenazi Jew, a bit of a culinary also-ran.

The one exception is hamantaschen, triangular-shaped filled pastries — sorta, kinda the Jewish version of Danish? — that are named for the evil Haman, the villain in the Purim story, which is told in the Old Testament Book of Esther. In my childhood, the pastries were sweet and filled with prune lekvar or ground poppy seed paste — as kids, we hated those two flavors — or the much-preferred cherry or apricot jams. These days, bakers often fill them with appealing modern flavors, such as chocolate or halvah. You often see the cookies at bakeries in New Jersey in New York. Here, I haven’t run into them much.

Hamantaschen means “Haman’s pockets” in Yiddish (although I’ve also seen “taschen” translated as “purse”) and for mysterious reasons, to me, anyway, their shape is also associated with a three-cornered hat Haman supposedly wore. There doesn’t seem to be much historical basis for his having worn such a hat.

When my sisters and I were in college, my mom would bake the cookies every Purim and send each of us a box, a tradition she continued when we were out of school; I still miss that. So last year, I took matters into my own hands and baked them myself. But I didn’t go the traditional route. Instead I baked savory hamantaschen, a recipe I found in “The Seasonal Jewish Kitchen” by Amelia Saltsman. “These are incredibly delicious!” I wrote on the page after I tried them.

Much too good to save for just once a year.

SAVORY PERSIAN HERB AND CHEESE HAMANTASCHEN

From “The Seasonal Jewish Kitchen” by Amelia Saltsman. You can substitute Greek yogurt for the labneh. The sesame seeds were my own touch; they are not in the original recipe.

Yield: 2 dozen (3-inch) pastries (or you can form 6 larger pastries)

FOR THE PASTRY:
1 ½ cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup cold butter, cut into half-inch pieces
1/2 cup ice water

FOR THE FILLING:
1 bunch each Persian or regular mint, leek or garlic chives, pepper cress (or watercress), green onions and tarragon
3/4 cup labneh
6 ounces feta cheese, crumbled
1 egg, lightly beaten
White and/or black sesame seeds, for sprinkling

To make the pastry, stir together the flour and salt in a large bowl with a fork. Scatter the butter over the flour mixture, and using your fingertips or a pastry blender, cut in the butter until the mixture resembles coarse sand. Stir in the ice water, a little at a time, until the dough just sticks together when pressed with your fingertips.

Gather the dough into a ball, wrap in plastic wrap, and flatten into a thick rectangle. Refrigerate for at least 15 minutes. (The dough can be made up to 3 days ahead and refrigerated; let rest at room temperature until soft enough to roll out, about 15 minutes.)

To make the filling, finely chop enough of each of the herbs in any combination to total 1 ¼ lightly packed cups (75 grams). Use a fork to mash together the labneh and feta in a medium bowl. Stir in the egg, then the chopped herbs.

To assemble the pastries, preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Line 2 sheet pans with parchment paper.

Divide the dough in half and rewrap and refrigerate half of it. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the other half into a rectangle or a circle 1/6th to 1/8th of an inch thick. Cut out 12 circles, each 3 ½ inches in diameter, rerolling any scraps as needed.

Mound 1 tablespoon of the filling in the center of each dough circle. Fold the sides of the dough up over the filling to form a triangle, leaving a nickel-sized bit of filling exposed. Pinch the three corners of the triangle very firmly to seal. Arrange the pastries on a sheet pan, spacing them about 1 inch apart. Refrigerate formed pastries while you roll out and form the remaining second half of the dough.

Brush the pastries lightly with the egg wash. Sprinkle with the sesame seeds. Bake for 12 minutes until the bottoms of the pastries are light golden, then reduce the heat to 375 degrees F. Bake 10 to 12 minutes longer until the crust is golden and the filling puffed and browned in places. Let the hamantaschen cool 5 to 10 minutes on a wire rack before serving. (The hamantaschen can be reheated.)