This spinach and feta pie is a traditional Greek dish that’s surprisingly easy to make, lovely for lunch with a salad and tastes just as good the next day in your lunch box.

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 brown onion, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, chopped
• 1 bunch silverbeet (spinach), washed, trimmed and chopped
• 250g feta cheese, crumbled
• 250g fresh ricotta cheese
• 3 eggs
• 6 filo pastry sheets (at room temperature)
• 250g butter, melted

Method

Preheat the oven to 200°C (180° fan-forced). Spray a 20cm pie dish with cooking spray and set aside.

Place olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat and cook the onion and garlic for 3 minutes, or until the onion is translucent.

Add the silverbeet to the saucepan, cover, and cook for 5 mins, stirring every minute, until all the leaves are wilted.

Drain and cool the mixture for 10 mins.

In a bowl, combine the eggs, feta and ricotta cheese. Add the silverbeet mixture and mix well.

Remove the filo pastry from its packaging and cover with a damp tea towel to keep it moist.

To make the base you need to brush three pastry sheets liberally with butter and lay them on top of each other.

Brush three pastry sheets liberally with butter and place them in the pie dish, on top of each other, to line it.

Next, place the spinach and feta mixture on top of the pastry, spreading it evenly in the pie dish.

Brush each remaining pastry sheet with butter and layer over the filling. Brush the top layer with butter.

Using scissors, or a very sharp knife, trim the pastry at the edge of the dish.

Cook the pie in the oven for 25-30 minutes, or until the pastry is golden. Serve with a garden salad.

Notes:

• Filo pastry can become crumbly within a few minutes of being exposed to air so it is very important to prevent the sheets from drying out while you are working with them by covering them with a damp cloth.
• You can use unsalted butter to counter the saltiness of the feta if you prefer.
• This recipe was created by Jennifer Cheung for Kidspot, New Zealand’s best recipe finder.

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• Baked ricotta
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• Easy salsa
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• Mushroom ragout with creamy polenta
• Lentil chilli
• Hash browns

Serving Suggestions

Note