Spinach Pie

[Aliantha]

I don't know if the rest of you have ever tried this meditereanean savoury, but it's pretty popular over here in one form or another. On the weekend I made some individual spinach pies and I have to say, they're the tastiest and best I've ever made, so I decided to share the recipe I used just in case you decide you'd like to try making them for yourself.

Ingredients:

1 large bunch of spinach (silverbeet)
2 onions
350 grams of ricotta cheese
350 grams of crumbled greek fetta cheese
1 lime
6 sheets of pre-rolled puff pastry (or you could make your own if you're keen)

Method:

Making the filling

Remove the stems from the spinach and chop finely. You should end up with a large salad bowls worth.

Chop onions finely.

Add in ricotta and fetta cheese.

Add the juice of the lime.

You can add salt and pepper at this stage if you like a bit more seasoning. I did, but you don't have to.

Mix well. I find it's best to use your hands in order to meld the ingredients together well.

Making the pies (you'll need a muffin tray for this)

If your pastry sheets are square like ours, cut each sheet into four equal quarters.

place pastry squares into the muffin holes. There should be plenty hanging over the edges of each hole.

Add spinach filling to each pastry square.

Bring the four corners of the squares together and pinch closed around all four edges.

Pies should be quite plump and tightly filled as the mixture will drop somewhat during the cooking process.

When all the holes in your muffin tray are filled, spray pies lightly with oil or brush with a little melted butter or even milk if you prefer.

Put them into an oven which has been preheated to about 200 degrees celcius. Cook for approximately 30 to 40 minutes depending on your oven. Just leave them in till they're browning on top.

Remove from oven and allow to stand for a few minutes then remove from tray and place on a wire rack to cool.

This recipe made 2 dozen muffin sized pies.

Variations

A traditional ingredient for this recipe is dill. I didn't use it this time and I think the pies were nicer without it, but you could try it if you like that particular herb.

If you're not so keen on fetta cheese, you could replace it with grated cheddar. Sometimes this works better if you have a younger audience to feed.

If you really like all the greek type flavours, you could add in finely chopped sun-dried tomatoes or olives.

I've provided you with the basic recipe, but your only limitation with this one is your imagination.

Enjoy!