Spinach Pie
This delicious spinach, dill and feta pie is encased in crisp filo pastry. I found this method of shaping the filled filo pastry into rolls, then coiling the rolls into a circular spiral to form the pie. Not only does it create the perfect ratio of filling to pastry, it is easy to assemble and looks impressive too.
Serve the spinach pie warm, with a green salad, or tomato salad and some hard boiled eggs. It makes wonderful leftovers for lunch the following day.
Spinach and Feta Pie
Serves 4-6
ingredients
900g - 1kg of fresh baby spinach leaves (x3 large bags spinach)
200g feta cheese, crumbled by hand
1/3 cup of dried breadcrumbs
1 cup of chopped spring onions
1/4 cup of fresh dill, finely chopped
3 large organic eggs, lightly beaten
freshly ground black pepper, to season
270g filo pastry (1 packet)
olive oil
sea salt
method
Preheat the oven to 190C fan oven.
Prep the spinach, in batches sauté the spinach in a little olive oil until wilted. Remove the spinach to a sieve set over a deep tray, to help drain excess liquid. Repeat until all the spinach has been sautéed and wilted down. Once all the spinach is cooked press out any remaining liquid, you want the spinach to be dense with as little water as possible.
In a large bowl combine the cooked and drained spinach with crumbled feta cheese, dried breadcrumbs, chopped spring onions, dill and eggs. Season with black pepper. I don’t personally add salt, as the feta cheese seasons the filling.
Take the dish for making your pie and brush with olive oil. Then take a first sheet of filo pastry and brush with olive oil, add a heaped spoon of the filling and spread it along the length of the filo sheet in one long line, rolling the filo pastry to encase the filling in a long cigar shape. Place in your pie dish and repeat. Each roll of filled pastry meeting the last and coming inwards to create a circular shape. You can pack the dish as tightly as possible. Once complete brush the top with a little more olive oil and scatter with a few pinches of sea salt.
Place in the pre heated oven and bake for 30-40 minutes. When cooked the pastry will be golden and the filling should be bubbling away inside it. Serve warm and enjoy.
