Spanakopita
Spinach pie with filo pastry
Ingredients
200 grams ricotta, drained
100 grams feta, crumbled
1 or 2 eggs
Medium white onion, thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic
1/2 – 3/4 grated nutmeg
Good grind black pepper
Zest and juice of half a lemon
5 or 6 sheets filo pastry bring to room temp before using
Melted butter and olive oil to spread over the filo sheets, finishing at the top. If no butter available, use a spray bottle to spray each individual filo sheet with oil, ending with a last spray over the top.
Method
Whisk together the ricotta, feta and egg, then grate in 1/2 or 3/4 whole fresh nutmeg (sizes can vary a lot so need to look at the size and decide the appropriate amount)
Then a good grind of black pepper
In the meantime;
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Gently cook the sliced onion
After five minutes add two fat cloves of garlic
Then the spinach. I used one bag of baby spinach and 5 of the frozen spinach
Warm all the way through until wilted and melted
Use a metal sieve to squish it dry then add to the ricotta, feta egg and nutmeg mixture.
Lay the filo over a springform cake tin, having first sprayed with oil.
Do one sheet at a time in a criss cross or diamond pattern, with plenty of sheets falling outside the tin
Either spray each sheet individually with a mild olive oil
Or use a pastry brush to brush every sheet with a melted butter/mild olive oil combo (my preference, but makes it a bit richer).
Lay the spinach and ricotta filling in the pie and pull the rest of the filo pastry over it, giving a final olive oil spray, or for a richer taste, a final melted butter and olive oil baste
Cook at 180% F. for a fan assisted oven for 30 – 35 mins. I think that is gas mark 6? But please double check
I like to serve with a rich tomato and cannellini bean stew
Alternatives
Add tomato or sundried tomato to the filling – so one layer of the ricotta and spinach mixture, one layer of tomatoes, further ricotta spinach layer
My husband got hungry…it took longer to make than I thought it would.
But the upshot was I needed to leave it in the oven for five more minutes to get that golden toasty appearance all over.
Still tasted good.
Also – worth noting that it is just as good cold as hot. It makes a wonderful addition to a picnic or cold buffet
