Greek spinach, feta & pine nut pie with dill & crunchy filo

From Fast, Fresh and Easy Food

An impressive-looking pie. Great hot from the oven or for a packed lunch in the office. Mini ones can be fun to make also: just use a cupcake tray and line each hole with filo, add the filling and then top with another piece of this superfine pastry.

Prep time: 25 minutes

Time baking in the oven:

20–25 minutes

Serves: 4–6

Equipment: Really large pan with lid, small pan (or small bowl and microwave), 23cm springform tin, baking sheet, sieve, pastry brush, baking tray.

INGREDIENTS

Vegetable oil

1 bunch of spring onions

1 garlic clove

600g baby spinach leaves

50g butter

200g feta cheese

Small handful of fresh dill

200g cream cheese

50g toasted pine nuts (you can buy them ready toasted from the supermarket)

50g raisins

3 medium eggs

Big pinch of freshly grated nutmeg

6 sheets of filo pastry

4–6 small vines of cherry tomatoes

Extra virgin olive oil

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

METHOD

Preheat the oven to 200°C, (fan 180°C), 400°F, Gas Mark 6.

Place a really large pan with a drizzle of vegetable oil on a medium heat. Trim and finely slice the spring onions (the green and white bits), peel and finely chop the garlic and add them to the pan along with the spinach and some salt and pepper. Put the lid on and leave to cook for a few minutes until completely wilted, tossing from time to time.

Meanwhile, melt the butter in a small pan or in a small bowl in the microwave. Use some of it to grease the inside of the springform tin and set aside on a baking sheet.

Tip the wilted spinach into a sieve and leave it for a few minutes until cool enough to handle.

Whilst that cools, crumble the feta cheese into bite-sized pieces. Trim the dill stalks off and discard and then roughly chop the leaves.

Going back to the spinach mixture, get your hands in and squeeze as

much liquid as possible out of it.

Return the spinach mixture to the pan (turn the heat off), add the feta, dill, cream cheese, pine nuts and raisins. Crack the eggs in, add the nutmeg and some salt and pepper (not too much salt as the feta is pretty salty). Mix everything together gently. At this stage in the proceedings the mixture won’t look like the most beautiful thing in the world, but after a little magic in the oven it will come good.

Open out the filo pastry sheets and brush the top one with some of the melted butter. Lay it buttered side up in the prepared tin, pressing it in against the bottom and sides and leaving the excess hanging out over the top. Repeat with three more sheets of pastry, brushing each with butter and laying them not directly on top of one another but overlapping so all of the inside of the tin is covered.

Tip the spinach mixture inside and spread it out evenly. Fold the excess filo pastry inwards to enclose the filling. Then lightly scrunch up the remaining two sheets of pastry and arrange them on top, pressing them down lightly, to give a ruffled-effect top. Brush the top with the remaining melted butter and then bake in the oven for 20–25 minutes.

Arrange the vines of cherry tomatoes on a baking tray, drizzle a little olive oil over and season well. When the pie has been cooking for about 10 minutes, place the tomatoes in to roast for 10–15 minutes.

After 10–15 minutes, remove the tomatoes and pie from the oven. The pie should be crisp and golden on the outside and warmed through. Carefully remove the pie from the tin and use a sharp knife to cut it into

four or six wedges.

Place a wedge of pie on each serving plate with a vine of roasted cherrytomatoes and serve. This dish is also delicious served cold.