Spinach & Feta pie (Jamie Oliver recipe)

by AngelinaJellyBeana 17th October 2010, 9:14 am

I've made this pie this morning, ready to eat later and have some for lunch at work tomorrow.

SPINACH & FETA PIE
• 100g pinenuts
• 5 eggs
• 300g feta cheese
• 50g Cheddar cheese
• dried oregano
• 1 lemon
• a knob of butter
• 400g prewashed baby spinach
• 1 x 270g pack of filo pastry
• cayenne pepper
• 1 whole nutmeg, for grating

TO START Get all your ingredients and equipment ready. Turn the oven on to 200°C/400°F/gas 6.Put amedium(approx. 26cm diameter) ovenproof frying pan on a medium heat.

Put the pinenuts into the dry ovenproof frying pan to toast, tossing occasionally. Keep an eye on them. Crack 5 eggs into a mixing bowl and crumble in 300g of feta. Grate in 50g of Cheddar. Add a pinch of pepper, a couple of pinches of dried oregano, zest
of 1 lemon and a lug of olive oil. Once the nuts are light golden, add them to the egg mixture and mix well.

Put the empty frying pan back on the heat, add a little olive oil and a knob of butter and pile in half of the spinach. Gently push and move it around and add more as it wilts down. Make sure it doesn’t catch on the bottom and when there’s room, start adding the rest, stirring frequently.

Meanwhile, take the pastry out of the fridge. Lay a large sheet of greaseproof paper, approximately 50cm long, on the worktop, rub a little olive oil all over it, then scrunch it up and lay it out flat again. Arrange 4 filo pastry sheets in a large rectangle, overlapping at the edges, so they almost cover the paper. Rub some olive oil over them. Sprinkle over a good pinch of salt & pepper and a pinch of cayenne. Repeat until you have 3 layers. Don’t worry about any cracked bits. Remember to keep stirring the spinach.

Once the spinach is really nice and dense, take the pan off the heat. Add the wilted spinach to the egg mixture and grate in ½ a nutmeg. Mix well. Carefully move the greaseproof paper and filo into the empty frying pan so the edges spill over. Push it down into the sides of the pan, then pour in the egg mixture and spread it out. Fold the filo sheets over the top and let them fall where they will (see how to video). Put the pan back on a medium heat for a couple of minutes to get the bottom cooking, then put the pan into the oven on the top shelf to cook for 18 to 20 minutes, or until golden and crisp

I've copied the recipe directly from the Jamie Oliver website. I don't have an oven proof frying pan so I've made it in a cake tin and just cooked the spinach in a separate pan. I've also added some mushrooms in mine

http://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/vegetarian-recipes/spinach-aamp-feta-filo-pie-cucumber-sala

by AngelinaJellyBeana 17th October 2010, 2:36 pm

by Compostwoman 17th October 2010, 3:07 pm

Must admit I was tempted even before I saw your pic!

nom nom indeed. nomming

by Adrian 17th October 2010, 4:23 pm

must buy spinach tomorrow - om nom nom

by Hathorite 18th October 2010, 9:10 am

I bet it would work nice with chard too, I've loads of that in the garden at the moment. Om nom nom indeed.

by Compostwoman 18th October 2010, 10:46 pm

Chard cooks exactly the same as spinach, Hathorite Smile

and I will be making it with chard, as that is what I grow as well. I might try it with puff rather than filo pastry, though. And with a goat cheese I have which is very similar to feta

Might actually make it tomorrow as I am planning to have the oven on to make a banana loaf and some cookies and some cup cakes.

Oh, my waistline!

by Hathorite 19th October 2010, 2:49 pm

I had a trim waistline when I needed it - nowadays, buggrit, give me the pudding!

by Compostwoman 19th October 2010, 3:26 pm

So did I, once...CM jokes he got value for money with the marriage fee...(£18 for the licence back in those days... Very Happy

)

Ah well,

Have realised the down side to my master plan for using puff rather than filo...the base will not cook properly. So will have to get some filo when next in town

by Chilli-head 19th October 2010, 3:50 pm

Ahh, Greek spanakopita. I love Greek food ....

CW, you could do this instead (bbc good food puff pastry tart recipe)

To get the base cooked, roll it out thinner. Instead of just scoring a square like the above recipe, make 4 cuts right through to make a border about 1.5 cm wide, still attached to the inner square at two diagonally opposite corners. Then fold both borders over to the opposite so it makes a rim, with an attractive "knot" at the two uncut corners.

by Compostwoman 19th October 2010, 3:59 pm

I do that recipe already CH Very Happy

thats why I liked the look of the jamie filo pie, as it was a bit deeper?

Ah well, will have a play and see what happens!

by budburst12 20th October 2010, 11:25 am

Ooh, lovely! I love spanakopita! My greek friend's mum used to send hers in the post from Greece sometimes. Gorgeous even when cold and slightly squashed! I think the herb they used was dill though. Worth trying with dill if you've got some - fantastic herb combination with feta cheese (or any cheese really).

Yum yum!

by Chilli-head 20th October 2010, 12:14 pm

Dill is indeed traditional. You might like to look at

http://www.greekrecipe.com/

They have a couple of recipies for Σπανακόπιτα, one of which uses dill

by Guest 26th October 2010, 8:05 pm

This is one of my basic foods! (I only put feta in it and one egg and no pine nuts)

I use spinach when there are lots but it also works with young kale leaves.

Autumn - I add mushroomes when they are in the fields. Summer - A few tomatoes sometimes for a bit different. Spring - A few young onions

by Wilhelm Von Rhomboid 26th October 2010, 9:28 pm

I do this with nettles in place of spinach - pretty sure I got the idea off one of the early River Cottage episodes - the one where Hugh entered the nettle eating competition with that chap who used to be on INEBG forum in the early days.
I also tend to use walnuts instead of pine nuts, because we have kilos and kilos of the former, while the latter are so hideously expensive (I always make pesto with walnuts for the same reason).

Another yummy recipe with filo is Pastilla, which is essentially similar but using pigeon breasts and icing sugar in place of spinach and cheese.

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