Recipes are one of my favourite things to collect.
I love the process of prepping, cooking, and creating something from scratch. Like I mentioned in a few of my other recipe posts, like The Five Best Vegetarian Slow Cooker Recipes, there’s something so comforting about a homemade meal to end the day.
Even if the dish does not quite live up to expectations, I always feel as if the recipe is merely a baseline that can be adjusted to perfection. A small tweak of a single ingredient can change the dish dynamic to better fit my taste, so it’s no surprise I rarely throw a recipe out entirely.
This recipe required absolutely no tweaking. It was perfect straight out of the gate.
Love at first bite
I first had this spinach pie when visiting my husband’s family. It’s my mother-in-law’s recipe and she found it’s a great dish for entertaining in large groups, especially when your future daughter-in-law is vegetarian.
She made a triple batch of this recipe when she hosted a huge backyard party. I remember tables and tables of food to feed fifty-plus friends, family, and neighbours; I remember homemade Italian rosemary bread and the charcoal grills braaing as fast as possible.
And despite having champion grillers at the BBQ and an amazing spread of delicacies, the standout star was this dish. It was no wonder with its flakey, golden filo pastry crust and the perfect balance of spinach and feta cheese.
Standout staple
I immediately asked for the recipe and, ever since, I’ve made this recipe countless times, particularly for large potlucks or holiday dinners.
It can be prepared in a large baking dish the night before an event – or even earlier if frozen – making it easy to feed large numbers of people without spending hours in the the kitchen. And if any spinach pie is, miraculously, left over, it somehow always tastes better the next day.
This recipe also works great for meal prepping – just portion out one serving per container and add your favourite side. (Mine is oven roasted vegetables.)
I’d love to hear what you think in the comments!
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My favourite Spinach Pie recipe
Prep 25 mins ∙ Cook 45 mins ∙ Serves 8 ∙ Difficulty Medium
INGREDIENTS
- 1 kg (2 lbs) spinach
- 1 tbsp oil
- 6 spring onions, chopped
- 125 g (4 oz) feta cheese, crumbled
- 90 kg/3 oz (¾ cup) grated cheddar cheese
- 5 eggs, lightly beaten
- 16 sheets filo pastry
- 80 ml/2 ¾ fl oz (⅓ cup) olive oil
- 1 egg, lightly beaten
- 1 tbsp poppy seeds
DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven 210°C. Brush a 30x25cm baking dish with oil. Wash spianch thoroughly and shred finely. Place in a large pan to wilt and drain.
Heat oil in large pan and cook spring onions for 3 mins until soft. Transfer to a large bowl and add spianch, cheese, eggs. Season eith salt and pepper and mix well.
Place 1 sheet of pastry in the baking dish, letting the edges hang over. Cover the remaining pastry with a clean, damp tea towel to prevent drying out. Brush the pastry in a dish with some of the olive oil. Repeat x7, brushing each sheet lightly with the oil.
Spread filling over the pastry and fold in the edges. Brush each remaining sheet of pastry lightly with oil and place on top of the pie. Tuck in edges around the sides, brush with egg and top with poppy seeds.
Bake 35-40 mins until golden. Serve immediately.
Kit your kitchen
I’m a Chicagoan living and working in London who loves running and currently training for my 14th marathon. I’m a keen bargain hunter, slow-cooker enthusiast, and DIYer who blogs about the meeting the challenges I set for myself.
