Spinach & Cheese Filo Pie
I love it when the leafy greens like spinach and silverbeet are readily available and tasting their best. Kale has also joined the ranks of the in vogue green veg, in recent times, and has been flouncing around town announcing itself as a "superfood". I guess we'll take it's word for it until we hear otherwise! Regardless of all that marketing spin, we know that green veggies are healthy. I don’t need the word “superfood” to tell me I should be eating more veggies and less cheeseburgers. Whether or not we eat enough of them may be a totally different story. In my world, everything is better with cheese.
So my question now is, what if we combine some cheese with some green veggies and cook it using our brilliant Hot Air+Steaming/Combination function in our CombiSteam? The answer is simple....YOU WILL GET a whole lot of YUM! Hot Air+Steaming/Combination is the perfect way to cook this Green Cheese Filo Pie because the Hot Air (or fan forced heat) browns and crisps the filo pastry while the Steam helps to keep the green cheesy filling moist, soft and delicious. It's the perfect balance!
For the start of the week it's a brilliant make ahead meal too. Whip it up a few days in advance, cover and refrigerate and then simply warm back up using Hot Air+Steaming/Combination at 180°C for about 25 mins. (Set your Steam to 20% if your CombiSteam asks.)
serves 6+
Ingredients:
2 bunches English Spinach, silver beet or kale (or a combination) (leaves roughly chopped separately, stems finely sliced)
olive oil
1 brown onion (diced)
1 clove garlic (crushed)
400g full fat fresh ricotta
200g Greek feta
3 eggs (lightly beaten)
1 bunch fresh chives* (chopped)
8 sheets fresh filo pastry*
1 tsp ground nutmeg
S&P
olive oil spray
Method:
Line your steamer tray with baking paper and place the spinach leaves only (or other greens) on top. Place into the cold Combi Steam. Select Steam at 100°C/100%. Cook for 4-5 mins or until just wilted. Remove and set aside.
Place a tsp of olive oil into a hot frypan over medium heat. Add the spinach stems, onion, garlic and nutmeg. Season well with salt and pepper. Saute, moving them around the pan with a wooden spoon until tender.
Drain any excess liquid from the steamed greens (this is really important!) then place them into a clean tea towel or cloth and remove an further moisture. Place the greens into a mixing bowl with the cheeses, eggs, chives and cooked onion mixture.
Lay one sheet of filo into the base of a rectangular or round oven proof dish. Then spray it all over with olive oil. Lay a second sheet on top and spray with olive oil. Repeat until you have 5 layers of filo in your dish.
Top with the filling, spreading with the back of a wooden spoon to fill in the dish evenly.
Spray the remaining 3 sheets of filo and "scrunch" them up gently to create a top for the pie. Place the "scrunched" pastry around or all over the top to cover.*
Place into your CombiSteam. Select Combination Steam (Hot Air+Steaming). Set the temperature to 200°C. For variable Steam select 20%. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until pastry is golden brown and crunchy and the filling is "set".*
Remove and allow to stand for at least 10 minutes before slicing and serving with salad if desired.
Tips:
*feel free to use other soft herbs like dill, parsley or tarragon
*ensure you buy "fresh", "chilled" filo pastry (not frozen) found near the fresh pasta in your supermarket for this recipe
*at the end of the step 6 your could cover well with 2 layers of cling wrap and then freeze. Allow to thaw (or use Steam at 40°C or 40% to do this for you) and then cook as per Step 7 onwards.
*in step 7 if you feel the filling has too much liquid or is too wet - select the Steam Off option or reduce the Steam to 0% and continue to cook for another 5 minutes.
I hope you like this one!
Stay tuned for some festive recipes too and don't forget to join our little family by following me on Facebook for regular tips, hints and inspiration from myself and other CombiSteamers.
Happy CombiSteaming!
Yours in the kitchen,
The CSQ x