Spinach & Ricotta Filo Pie
This is a mish-mash of a few recipes, with some of my own additions. It was sort of inspired by my Greek holiday, but also by Jamie Oliver’s salmon version in last weeks ‘Jamie’s Money Saving Meals’. I used frozen spinach for the sake of cheapness and ease, but you could definitely use fresh or tinned (which has a great flavour) as well.
(Makes 6 portions)
The Ingredients:
250g Ricotta Cheese
1 pack of filo pastry
1/4 pack of feta cheese – crumbles
3 eggs
200g frozen spinach
1/2 onion – diced
2 cloves garlic – finely sliced
salt & pepper
The Method:
1. Pre heat oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas Mark 4.
2. Defrost and remove excess liquid from the spinach – to time save I boiled it in a pan of shallow water, seived it and left it to cool spread out on a plate. You want to get rid of as much liquid as possible or the pastry will get soggy.
3. Saute the onions and garlic until just translucent.
4. Beat the three eggs and add the ricotta, feta, onions, garlic and spinach, with a pinch of salt and pepper. Mix until all the ingredients are well combined.
5. In a round oven dish, drape the sheets of filo so that the bottom of the dish is covered, and the excess is hanging over the side (I didn’t have a round dish so I did this bit in a wok to get the round shape and gently transferred the completed pie to a rectangular oven dish. It worked ok)
6. Spoon the filling into the dish and fold the excess over the top, loosely, so that the mixture is completely covered.
7. Cook for about 40 – 45 minutes – but check at 30 minutes to check the edges aren’t burning.
Don’t I love the looks of that! A blend of spinach and ricotta.
It’s as good as it looks I assure you! Even better with some nutmeg, which I didn’t include in this recipe.