Baking
57 recipes
This is one the best dishes ever and is vegetarian. We all love the deep greens, lightened up with eggs and fresh soft cheese, and then topped off with flaky, crunchy filo pastry and sesame seeds – all together it just works.
It is possibly one of the most appreciated dishes I make; everyone just loves this one - a gorgeous vegetarian meal and hit of iron and veg, for kids and adults. Spanakopita is a family staple in our house.
I have been making this for decades now and my twist and why I think it is so good is have a lot of greens, and I always include a bunch of kale. Kale cooks down differently to spinach - it holds its texture that little bit more, whereas spinach can become very soft. Cavolo Nero or black kale would also work well. But you need the deep richness of the spinach as the driving flavour. You can buy ready shredded kale packets now, and you can use frozen spinach (drain very well) to make this even quicker as the prep can be the time-consuming part. Some like to add more flavours through garlic, nutmeg, dill or parsley – I don’t as I like to keep the flavours simple and clean, and it just works!
I also precook the lot and cool it down before adding the rest of the ingredients and rolling it up into a pie – this is how I can add so much of the leafy greens and intensify the flavour.
Another great way to serve – little parcels per person into sausage rolls. Great for a picnic or party. I like to substitute the filo for puff pastry sometime too –- follow the instructions and bake 200°C for min 20 minutes having brushed the top with some beaten egg.
One more important tip – you can prep in advance which is a game changer. I will cook the spinach and onion mix then flatten and seal in Ziplock bags and freeze. It will keep for three months. Then defrost overnight ready to continue with the recipe and finish the pie that day.
Makes 1 pie serving 6 – 8, or 10 -12 parcels depending on size. V. Freezes well if using fresh greens.
Pictured: Greek Spanakopita/spinach pie
Ingredients
- 3 - 4 bunches of your favourite dark leafy green, must include one bunch as green kale. For the other three - English spinach/silverbeet/packets baby spinach or rainbow chard - white stems removed, coarsely shredded, washed well to remove all the dirt and dry with a little water clinging to the leaves as this helps cook it down and steam a little.
- 4 tablespoon light olive oil or EVOO
- 1 brown onion, finely chopped
- 250g Greek feta packet, crumbled
- 200g tub ricotta
- Optional - finely chopped fresh dill (2tbsp) or dried dill (1tbsp)
- 3 - 4 eggs, 1 egg per green, leafy bunch basically
- packet filo pastry
- Ligh olive oil for brushing over filo – approx. ½ cup or more or melted butter - or for a quicker method use a spray oil.
- Melted butter for the top of the pie(s) or preferably an egg wash (1/2 a beaten egg)
- Grated parmesan, sesame seeds and poppy seeds for the top of the pie(s) – approx. 2 Tbsp each
- Freshly ground pepper and sea salt
- Preheat oven to 190°C.
- You can make either one large pie or lots of little parcels or snails - see below.
Method
Heat 1 tbsp oil in a frying pan over medium heat - add onion and cook, stirring, for 5 minutes or until soft. Add a big batch of the prepared greens with a little salt and lots of pepper and cook down til wilted – remove to a large bowl, then wilt down the rest of the greens with a splash of oil and seasoning, add to the bowl.
Once the onion and greens mix is cool – add the eggs and cheeses and stir well. I don’t season any further as it already has been while wilting.
In a large bowl, combine spinach/silver beet and kale, onion, and cheeses first to combine, then add the eggs. Mix thoroughly. The greens should be well seasoned when they were wilted so no need for more to note. You can add the optional dill.
Place filo sheets on a clean work surface. Cover with a clean tea towel, then a damp tea towel (this will prevent it drying out). Otherwise, work quickly.
If making one large pie – cover a lasagne-sized dish with oil or butter. Brush 1 filo sheet with oil/butter. Top with another sheet and brush again. Top with another sheet, brush again etc. Repeat with 8 or so filo leaves and lay this into a lasagne dish, overlapping to reach each side and up the sides of the dish. You will repeat this for the top of the pie. Spoon silver-beet mixture into the dish and smooth the surface. Top with remaining filo stack. Fold edges over and press down firmly to enclose filling. You can use a small sharp knife to score the top of the filo diagonally or leave it as it is. Brush with remaining oil/butter or preferably an egg wash to brown nicely and golden. Grate over some parmesan and sprinkle on top some sesame or poppy seeds. Bake in preheated oven for 30 - 40 minutes or until golden. Remove from oven and set aside for 5 minutes to set and cool a little. Cut into slices to serve.
For small individual sausage roll shapes - brush half a sheet with oil/butter and fold in half, brush the top of the half, repeat this with another sheet and place on top of each other – so you have 4 layers. Place a dollop of filling in the middle, approx. ½ cup, wrap the sides up and brush any parts to be folded as you go, to stick the sides together.
For a snail – make a stack of two sheets with oil/butter brushed between, lay a thin line of filling along the long edge leaving a few CMS around it from the sides and the bottom, roll up like a long cigar, tuck in the ends near the end of rolling, brush final bit to seal, and roll up like a snail.
Pictured: Greek spinach snails
Sprinkle with oil/butter parmesan and seeds. These will cook in 25 minutes or so.
Kids adore rolling their own little snails or parcels, so this is a good one for kids in the kitchen, and a good way to get them eating spinach!
Pictured: Greek Spinach sausage rolls
Dietary preferences
- Vegetarian
- Gluten-Free with substitutions
