Greens Filo Pie

 

This pie is very ‘spanakopita’ coded. Similar ingredients and process, however I adapted the way the filo is presented to give you something that looks very impressive and show stopping, but still very easy to achieve. Rather than rolling the filling into a log and shaping into a spiral in the traditional spanakopita way, layers of filo pastry are laid into a springform tin, filling added and then the overhanging filo is scrunched into the top with more sheets of scrunched filo so that you end up with a round pie that has lots of crunchy ruffles and filo textures on top. It looks pretty spectacular when you pull it out of the oven and a slice of this served is really impressive too.

On the greens filling, consider the below a base filling guide. You could keep it simple with just spinach, add other greens like kale as I’ve done or other veg like chard depending on what’s in season. I love the fact that this filling is perfect for using up any wilting greens or herbs you might have lying around too. Even if you had leftover roasted vegetables like pumpkin, eggplant, you could add those in too. Also greek feta is used to give greens a nice tang, however feel free to add in other cheese that you like or have on hand. Parmesan, cheddar, even goats cheese would make for nice additions.

I’d make and serve this for brunch or lunch for a group as you can bake it in the oven just before they arrive and then serve it in 30 minutes. You could even prep the pie filling the day before and keep it in the fridge so you only need to assemble the pie the morning of. The pie itself is also so dense and packed with greens, you wouldn’t even need to serve a salad alongside it.

Makes- 1 x 20cm pie. Serves approx 6-8 people

Ingredients- 8

Cooking Time- 1 hour. 30 minutes prep, 30 minutes baking time.

Skill Level- Easy

Ingredients

• 2 bunches of spinach (800g), washed thoroughly and roots/ends removed

• 1 bunch of tuscan kale(400g), stems removed and only leaves kept. Swiss chard can also work as a substitute.

• 1 block (165g) of greek fetta. I’ve used Dodoni. 

• 1 bunch of your choice of herbs, finely chopped. I used a few stems of dill and flat parsley. Use whatever you have on hand or need to use up or completely omit.

• 1 packet (375g, 18 sheets) filo pastry. I’ve used Careme Filo Pastry

• 4 eggs

• Pinch of salt and pepper

• ½ cup (125ml) olive oil, for brushing the pastry

Method

1. Prep the spinach by blanching it in a boiling pot of salted water for about 2 minutes or until soft and bright green.

2. Plunge into ice/cold water to stop it from cooking further and then drain in a colander.

3. Once cool to touch, use your hands to squeeze as much water out of the spinach. I also use a few sheets of paper towel to squeeze out as much moisture as I can. Set aside.

4. Sauté the kale in a pan with some olive oil and salt for a few minutes until it all softens and wilts down to ⅓ of its size. Remove from the pan and allow to cool.

5. Roughly chop both spinach and kale into smaller pieces and place into a large bowl. Add in herbs, eggs, crumble in feta, season with salt and pepper and mix to combine. 

6. Preheat your oven to 180 degrees celsius and brush a round 20cm springform tin with some olive oil.

7. Place the first sheet of filo pastry onto a large benchtop and brush with olive oil, before laying over another piece of filo placed on a slight angle and brush with olive oil. Continue to do this for another 7 or so sheets of filo until it creates a large fanned out shape. I ended up with 9 layers.

8. Carefully place the layers of filo into the pan, using your fingers to mould the filo up the sides and let the excess pastry overhang, flopping over the side of the pan.

9. Fill the inside with pie filling and use a spatula or spoon to pat it down to compress the filling, ensuring no gaps. 

10. Then gently fold over the excess pastry and scrunch it around the perimeter of the tin to create a border around the top. 

11. Place down another filo pasty sheet and brush with olive oil, before roughly scrunching and placing on top. Repeat 6 or 7 times until the top of the pie is completely covered with filo pastry and you can no longer see the filling. I like to make it as compact as possible with lots of filo on top to get lots of layers and ruffles on top.

12. Bake in the oven at 180 degrees Celsius for about 30 minutes or until the pastry is golden brown. 

13. Remove and allow to cool for 10 minutes before gently removing the pie from the springform tin. 

14. Serve whilst still warm and use a large sharp knife to cut into slices.

For any leftovers, store in the fridge covered for up to 5 days. Pull out of the fridge for at least 30 minutes before reheating so it can come back to room temperature.

You can reheat in an oven/airfryer/toaster oven for about 20 minutes to get the pastry crispy again and warm the filling.

Tips

1. Make sure you thoroughly wash the spinach as it contains lots of dirt and sand in the roots. I wash mine in the sink at least 3 times or until the water runs clear.

2. Feel free to add in more cheese or use up any leftover if you like. I made this recipe very greens forward as I wanted to pack in as many greens as I could in the pie, but if you like something a bit more cheesy, pull back a bit on the greens and add more cheese to your hearts content.

3. You can also add in more seasonings and spices to the pie filling if you’d like to mix it up. Lemon zest, chilli, smoked paprika, garlic, etc are things that can work well.

Watch the Process