Spinach and Ricotta Pie
You know how kids are often fussy? Well, I was completely surprised to learn that my youngest daughter Lucy is a fan of spanakopita. It must be the combination of the flaky butter pastry and the salty spinach and cheese mix.
And so with the silverbeet going bonkers in my garden, I decided to create my own version of this classic Greek pie.
You will notice I’ve used my Varoma dish not just for steaming in this recipe, but also as a colander for washing the spinach leaves. If you sit your Varoma dish in the sink with the lid underneath, you will find it fills up nicely with water. Give your leaves a little rinse, then all you need to do is lift the Varoma dish to drain out the water.
If you haven’t worked with filo pastry before, don’t panic! It’s pretty forgiving in this recipe. Just layer it up, even if your sheets crack or split. But do remember to keep the pastry covered with a damp tea towel while you work, otherwise it will dry out.
Spinach and Ricotta Pie
Ingredients
Preparation
- Using your Varoma, rinse 10 large silverbeet leaves (stalks removed). Chop silverbeet roughly into 2cm strips, and place back into Varoma dish.
- Place 500g of water in Thermomix bowl and steam silverbeet 15 minutes/Varoma/speed 2.
- Meanwhile, chop 4 rashers of bacon and 1 red onion and fry off in a pan in some olive oil until browned.
- Set silverbeet aside to drain, and bacon and onion aside to cool.
- Once cooled, crack 2 small eggs (or one large) into a clean and dry Thermomix bowl with 2 tsp of vegetable stock paste and 800g ricotta with some cracked pepper and mix, 10 seconds/speed 3 or until combined.
- In a large bowl, gently mix silverbeet, bacon, onion and cheese mixture until combined.
- Clean and dry mixing bowl.
- Add 80g butter to Thermomix bowl and melt 3 minutes/60 degrees/speed 2.
- Remove filo pastry from packaging and cover with a damp tea towel. Working with one layer of pastry at a time, brush each layer with melted butter and lay into a 23cm springform pan, gently easing the pastry into the pan. Build up as many layers as you like (about 8-10 is ideal).
- Fill springform pan with silverbeet and ricotta mix and gently press down. Brush 3 or 4 more layers of filo with butter and place them (in a scrunched-up, messy fashion) on top of the mix. Then, fold up the outer edges of the other pastry and gently press down to seal.
- Place pie into a 180 degree oven (on a baking tray to catch butter drips) for about 30-40 minutes, or until golden brown.
- Take care when removing from oven, as there will be excess butter. Allow to cool slightly before removing springform.
- Serve warm, or at room temperature, with salad.
