Friday, April 23, 2010

Spinach,Ricotta and Feta Pie



This spinach pie is without question my favourite pie! Mum would make this pie late at night when I was young and I remember helping her put the egg wash over the pies before they went into the oven. Often I would stay up in bed waiting for the pies to finish cooking so I could have a little bit when they were still hot from the oven. I still remember the anticipation and excitement I felt when I knew mum was making it. This pie is my ultimate comfort food and brings back lots of memories.

I made 6 pies at home a few days ago and froze majority of them. They freeze well and are a great meal when there's nothing to eat in the house. Up north, here in the Gold Coast, there is no spinach except baby spinach leaves (and even they are rare to find), so I used a mixture of silver beet and baby spinach leaves.

Spinach, Ricotta and Feta Pie

Ingredients:
- 1 big bunch of spinach (or silver beet)
- 1 bunch of spring onion
- 1 bunch of dill
- 5 eggs
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 2 tablespoons rice
- 2 pieces of greek feta (bought fresh from supermarket deli)
- 200g fresh ricotta
- 6 frozen puff pastry sheets (I used Pampers)
- handfull of coriander and parsley (optional)

Method:

1. Wash spinach leaves thoroughly. Place leaves and a little bit of the stalk in a colander and add salt. Squash the spinach with your hands and leave to drain for 15 minutes. Take out the puff pastry from the freezer and leave to thaw at room temperature.

2. Preheat oven to 200ºC.

3. Meanwhile in a large bowl add broken up ricotta and feta, 4 eggs, rice, oil, sliced dill, spring onion, parsley and coriander. Squeeze out all the water from the spinach leaves and add to bowl. Mix thoroughly.

4. Lay out one piece of puff pastry and add approximately 3-4 large tablespoons of the filling into the middle of the pastry. Fold the pastry into thirds so that a rectangular pastry is formed (refer to photo). Using a fork close down the ends of the pastry. Repeat this for all the pastry sheets.

5. Place on a baking tray a few cm apart and brush with egg white wash.

6. Place in 200ºC oven for 10 minutes and then turn the heat down to 180ºC and cook for another 30 minutes.

7. Take the pies out of the oven and let them cool a little bit before eating. Enjoy

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