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| Recipe of the week... ... Spanakopita |
Ingredients: 250g spinach leaves, a few splashes of olive
oil, 1 red onion, a bunch of spring onions, 1 clove garlic, 100g feta cheese, a
handful of fresh parsley leaves, 1 lemon, 1 egg, ½ teaspoon nutmeg, 2 large
sheets filo pastry, salt and pepper
Dietary req: Vegetarian
Serves: 2
Time taken: 1 hour 30 mins
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Good afternoon readers,
How are you today on this sunny Monday in June? Are you
well, and chilled out after a weekend at home enjoying the sun? I hope
everything’s grand with you… and I’m wishing everyone belly laughs and good
nights’ sleep this week ahead.
As I write, readers, we’re on Day 1 of World Meat Free Week –
wahoo! Did you know? This is an initiative to encourage people to prepare one
meal without meat this week, and any week if you can, to be kind to the planet.
Will you give it a go?
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- Food for thought -
This week, readers, I’ve been…
Listening
To: Scissor Sisters
For my sins, I can’t get Scissor Sisters songs out of my
head! I have their 2004 album on CD in my car, and I may only have been 10
years old when it was released but I still know the words to all their songs.
Great for singing along to on the way to work.
Watching
We tuned in last night to watch celebs playing footy. All
for a charity cause, it was good fun watching them giving it their all and celebrating
each time the ball went in the net. There were more goals that in normal footy
and I stayed awake! The penalties were TENSE.
Reading
I spent Saturday morning sat in bed with my lovely other
half, reading a newspaper and demolishing a stack of pancakes. There never
seems to be the time for this normally – but it was such a good start to the
weekend. And I even completed the hard sudoku… whattttttt!
Enjoying
We went along to the Peace
in the Park festival in Sheffield this weekend, and had a fab time sat in
the sun soaking up hippy dippy vibes. The weather brought out a real (sunburned)
crowd and it made for excellent people watching. I love a festival with dogs,
babies, and glitter.
Wondering
Whether I’ll eat cake
at 88?
My family gathered this weekend to celebrate my grandma and
grandad’s 65th wedding anniversary – they’ve had so many years
together! And both made it to the pub on their own two feet for a family get
together over a Sunday roast. They both had a drink to toast the occasion and
tucked into a slice of cake... I hope I’m eating cake in good health at 88!
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- Feeding a friend -
Now, for the food! This week’s recipe, readers, is one I
prepared not long ago on a weekday evening in my own kitchen at home, for me
and the Mr. We’d both had long days at work… but by the evening met in the
kitchen to end the day with an impromptu date night in.
I lit a vanilla tealight and the Mr brought over puddings,
and we cracked open a Slovenian blueberry liqueur that I gave him as a holiday
gift from my recent trip to Ljubljana. We poured the blueberry over ice and
topped our glasses with white wine, to make an improv cocktail! Very
refreshing, indeed.
It had turned into a nice evening outside, so we opened the
windows and listened to the birds singing between the trees. My yoga music
played in the background... providing some laidback tunes for the stressed-out
chef! We told each other about our days and generally rambled as over-tired,
tipsy, hungry people do.
We sat by the oven, as you might a baby monitor, to be near
our tea as it cooked. My recipe this week, readers, for Spanakopita, comes from
the May edition of the Co-op’s food magazine. According to the magazine: Feta and spinach pie is a food staple in
Greece – and a great recipe to try at home too…
I chose this recipe because we’ve booked to go to Greece on
holiday in September and we’re already excited, so it was chosen as a taste of
the real Greek food to come. Recently the Mr has been flexing his vegan-ness,
so it was an exciting night of dairy for him, and a wild ride in the kitchen
for me as I’m not very experienced at cooking with pastry!
I’ll say no more, readers. If you’re interested in giving it
as go, here’s the recipe in just ten simple steps…
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- Spanakopita -
Ingredients: 250g spinach leaves, a few splashes of olive
oil, 1 red onion, a bunch of spring onions, 1 clove garlic, 100g feta cheese, a
handful of fresh parsley leaves, 1 lemon, 1 egg, ½ teaspoon nutmeg, 2 large
sheets filo pastry, salt and pepper
1.
Set the scene – pour yourself a drink, open a
window for a little air, and set a calming album playing in the background.
Clear away and clutter, wipe your surfaces down, and gather together the
ingredients. Heat your oven to 190°C.
2.
Begin
with a little prep. Use a sharp knife to thinly slice the onion, finely chop
the spring onions, parsley leaves and clove of garlic, then zest the lemon,
crumble the feta cheese in a bowl, and crack the egg into a mug.
3.
Heat a
large pan and add the spinach leaves. Wilt the leaves with a splash of water
each time, then drain in a colander.
4.
Wipe the
pan clean and add a splash of cooking oil, then fry the sliced onion for 5
minutes until soft, before adding the garlic and frying for a minute more.
5.
Once the
wilted spinach is cool, tip it out onto some kitchen towel and press away any
excess liquid.
6.
In a
mixing bowl add the spinach leaves, the onion mix, crumbled feta cheese, chopped
parsley, and lemon zest. Lightly beat the eggs with a fork and add to the bowl.
7.
Generously
sprinkle the contents of your bowl with nutmeg, then season with salt and
pepper, and use a wooden spoon to mix everything until well combined.
8.
Lightly
grease a 22cm x 22cm baking tin with oil. Brush a sheet of pastry with oil then
lift it into the tin so the excess hangs over one of the sides. Repeat with the
second filo sheet, turning the tin so the pastry hangs over the other side.
9.
Spoon the
spinach mixture into the pastry-lined tin, pat down, and fold over the excess
pastry to cover.
10. Brush lightly with oil then carefully
transport into the oven, to bake for 45 minutes until crisp and golden. Safely
remove and switch the oven off, then leave to cool for a minute or two while
you warm plates and set the table. Serve up!
ChefBeHere Top
Tip: I served with spinach leaves as I had some spare from cooking, but that
was a LOT of spinach on our plates. All night long, our stomachs were gargling
away to each other... and I blame the spinach entirely. I’d suggest, perhaps,
serving with a different leaf and jazzing up your side salad with olives and
cherry tomatoes, for extra flavour.
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- Recipe round up -
A success, readers! We both enjoyed our tasty Greek tea, we
had a proper plateful each, and yes the sheer amount of spinach did set our
stomachs gargling later on, but it was very enjoyable to eat at the time.
Spanakopita is lighter than an English pie, I’d describe it as more of a
savoury strudel, with the flavours of nutmeg and garlic coming through well.
After an initial panic that I didn’t have enough spinach,
everything came together well in the kitchen and I had no trouble knocking this
recipe together, readers. The spanakopita baked well in the oven without
burning, and came away from the tin with no trouble when I plated up our food.
The filo turned a lovely golden colour while baking, we were
very proud, and the cracking sound when you stuck a fork into the pie was
delicious to hear! If I were to make this dish again I’d serve with a leaf
other than spinach, for a bit of variety, and I’d have bought in some olives
for us to munch as an appetiser while the pie baked in the oven.
Plus, if I were to repeat the recipe, I’d buy a decent feta
for a stronger cheese flavour. You could taste the cheese this time round, but
not massively, so I’d definitely crank up the cheese next time! We both enjoyed
the food though, readers, it tasted like the wonderful potential our holiday
away holds and we spent the meal imagining our future adventures.
Whether or not you have a trip to Greece on the horizon,
readers, I highly recommend this recipe. For anyone looking for a warm, light,
summery meal. I’d pair with a white wine and, if you’re going all out, why not
try a Greek inspired dessert? I’m thinking some sticky baklava with a creamy
pistachio ice cream, maybe?
If you’re able to this week, I say make the time to properly
enjoy an evening meal in. Make a special effort, even if there isn’t a reason!
You’re the reason, readers, I hope you’re all eating extra well this week. I’m
sending calming vibes... to you and your kitchen.
Bake safely,
Hayley
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- Closing thoughts -
If you’ve been inspired to give this recipe a try, readers,
whether I’m speaking to you on the day of this post or you’re reading some far
out time in the future... please drop me a line to let me know whether it went
okay. I’d love to hear how you got on in the kitchen and your thoughts on this
dish. Plus, it’d be fab if you’re able to share any tips you have for success,
or your suggestions to improve the recipe? Please send your wisdom my way.
Thank you for reading!
