4 June 2008

Spinach pie

This is the kind of recipe that should be in everyone's meal rotation. It's cheap, healthy, easy to make, delicious and can be eaten hot or cold. I am hungry just looking at this first photo because I remember so well the taste of it. This is our meal last Sunday night, we had leftovers on Monday night.

SPINACH OR SILVERBEET PIE

You'll need:
  • freshly picked silverbeet or spinach - maybe 20 leaves of silverbeet. If you use frozen spinach, and that is absolutely fine to use, you'll need two of those small boxes.
  • 1 onion, chopped.
  • 1 clove garlic, crushed.
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil x 2 (one for frying, one for brushing the pastry).
  • 5 eggs.
  • cheese - if you can use a few different varieties you'll get a better taste. I used 250 grams (½ lb) ricotta and about a cup of mixed cheddar and parmesan - grated. The ricotta is necessary, the others aren't, but add a lot of taste.
  • salt and pepper.
  • 4 sheets filo pastry. If you don't know what this is, it's a low fat pastry that you'll find in the refrigerated or frozen section of your supermarket.

HOW TO... Chop up the silverbeet/spinach, onion and garlic and add to a frying pan with the oil. Cook on medium until everything is soft.

While that is happening. mix your eggs and ricotta together. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Grate the other cheese and mix in.

Add the cooked silverbeet/spinach mix to the eggs and combine well.

With a pastry brush and some olive oil, take each sheet of filo pastry and brush the oil over it. Double it up and place it in a pie dish. Each sheet of pastry should have a light brushing of oil over it. Cover the base of your pie plate with all the sheets. You might like to fold the edges under or you can leave then out like I do. Work quickly when you work with filo as it dries out fast. If you need to leave your work station, cover the pastry with a clean moist tea towel.

Pour the egg and spinach mixture into the pie dish and bake in a medium hot over - around 180C (350F) until the top is golden. Don't overcook as it will make the eggs rubbery.

Serve with a salad or vegetables. You can eat it hot or cold.

We had ours with a salad just picked from the backyard and with another leftover birthday beer. We're living high on the hog this week, my friends. ;- )

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33 comments

  1. Yum, yum! :-) Have you seen the Turkey Feathers blog...she has a quiche for every letter of the alphabet (or nearly so!)

    Sounds like your spinach is thriving. We are feasting on broad beans, lettuce, and radishes, along with some rhubarb.

    My best,

    Anna Marie of the bread

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  2. Rhonda, I'm smiling...not only because this recipe is delicious, and I make a variation of it regularly, but....because you posted the recipe a few weeks back on 2 April! Bless you! Diana x

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  3. Scrumptious!!!! I'm drooling over the photo of the fresh salad! I can't wait until my garden starts producing!!!! And that pie is to die for! Mmmmm! Thanks for sharing!

    Kristina

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  4. Now I know whats for dinner tomorrow night - yummo.

    Thanks for posting the photos - it's always nice to know what each stage should look like.

    Must go check out the Turkey Feathers blog Anna Marie.

    Cindy

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  5. Hi Rhonda,
    Oh my...I just love your blog. Have been going back and reading your posts from months back.
    I wanted to ask if you would consider writing a little about your dogs. We have 4 dogs..2 labs, Saint Bernard and a Great Dane. They are such an important part of our life as your "furbabies" are to you. I saw your post about the homemade dog food you make them and love that idea. We've been reading more and more about treating our dogs in a natural way and feel really good about this. We have also quit taking them for yearly shots. Do you all still do yearly vaccines for your dogs?
    Thank you for any thoughts you could give on this.
    Blessings to you,
    Cathy
    Georgia

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  6. that looks great, I am glad your showing you recipes. can you show the tuna bake too! I really want to see that.

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  7. Hello everyone! Cathy, I'd be delighted to do that. I've just written it on my list.

    Mrs Boone, yep, I'll be baking the tuna bake at the end of this week. I have two versions - creamy and decadent and low fat. I'll do them both in coming weeks.

    Thanks for all your wonderful comments. It's a real thrill for me to have contact with everyone who writes here.

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  8. I always love seeing the photos when you post on recipes. Not only do they look spledid but it helps so much to see what something is supposed to look like. I'd never thought of using filo pastry brushed with oil before instead of the higher fat pasrties I make. A healthy and deliciously crunchable alternative to what I do. Thanks for another good tip.

    My heart went out to Annika who commented yesterday. I too live with a chronic condition which sometimes impacts on my ability to do things. My husband also had chronic fatigue syndrome for four years and has had permanently diminished energy ever since. I'm glad you have a good family, Annika. My DH and I are very supportive of each other and I know how greatly needed it is to have that, when just doing everyday things becomes a challenge. I definitely understand the difficulties, so be as kind to yourself as you can. I too believe there are as great rewards to living simply as can be found in anything else one might wish to do in life.

    Regards, Marilyn

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  9. Oh that looks delicious Rhonda Jean! I'm going to make it. We don't have any garden spinach yet but I do have a couple of those boxes in the freezer. Can I ask what size pan you are using is it an 8 or 9" square? or more Lasagna pan size?
    Thanks and hugs
    Niki

    PS We made your yogurt recipe in the crockpot and it came out wonderfully, except that we put our milk mixture in mason jars in a warm water bath in the crockpot. That turned out really well and the yogurt set in it's own jars.
    Have you ever tried making it without milk powder? Or a very scant amount? It's quite expensive and I'm wondering how little I can use.
    blessings,
    Niki

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  10. That looks soooo good! Definitely something to make when my spinach and swiss chard are ready to harvest.
    Thanks so much for sharing! :)

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  11. oh Rhonda, that looks so yummy. My daughter and I would love it, but dh does not like spinach. :( yes, I know he's a bit strange :) I'll have to make it when he's working nights!
    thanks for the great post!
    ps can't wait for the tuna recipe!

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  12. Oh I LOVE spinach! With dh going to be gone for so long, this will be a perfect meal to make and have leftovers during the week for me. Thank you so much for sharing. It will be a healthy blessing to my diet instead of eating "grab n go's".
    Christie

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  13. We also really enjoy this for a meal. I use frozen spinach & commercial puff pastry. Sometimes I use feta with a basic white sauce mixed into it for the right texture. Mostly I use ricotta.

    It's a cheap meal and it always fills the spot very nicely ~ even for us meat eaters!

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  14. I stopped looking for ricotta awhile ago. Our shop didn't have it regularly enough. I will check my new shop and see how I go.

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  15. Good morning Rhonda Jean. Thank you for your recent postings, I find a great sense of peace coming over me when I read your wise words, a sense of deep knowing and of truth. There is a good feeling of contentment in providing home grown, home cooked food for my sons, (even though they'd much rather have 'junk' at times!
    I need to perfect my gluten free pastry but once I do I shall be making this dish.

    Bright Blessings

    Sheryl.

    P.S My broody hatched six chicks. They are two days old and are buzzing around their pen like liitle bumble bees.

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  16. @ Marylin,
    Thanx very much for your kind and loving words.
    I hope you and your husband can cope well with your healthproblems. So good to hear that you and your husband support each other. My husband and sons are my greatest help. I'm thankful for that and for the fact that my husband has a good job and we can manage it together.
    Because of my healthproblems i'm eating vegan and for a big part as a fruittarian. Both improved my health. If you want to know more, just let me know.

    Regards, Annikka (from Holland)

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  17. Rhonda,

    Lovely piccy and recipe, we do not have any spinich on the allotment, really must grow some, I am looking more and more towards vegetarian type meals, meat is getting so expensive here, I need to stretch our income as far as possible.

    One thing I do love is frittata which is like a thick omelette you cook it in the pan and finish it off under the grill....uts uses quite a lot of eggs, but you can eat it hot or cold, and put almost anything in it.

    Must go OH wants to go to the lottie..........

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  18. A quiche by any other name is just as tasty.......

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  19. This looks delicious! And easy to make, too. I guess any kind of filling might do, for example zucchini or tomatoes?
    Does the bottom come out crisp or soft?

    Christine from the NL

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  20. This looks lovely! You won't believe how ridiculously difficult to find spinach is around here! Same goes for silverbeet. Can't wait for the Sabbatical year to end to we can start using the land again.

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  21. That looks absolutely scrumptious! My oldest used to love to each spinach quesadillas, but won't touch spinach now. I wonder if I can sway him with this.........

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  22. That looks simply delicious. Unfortunately I am allergic to eggs...darn, because I LOVE them!

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  23. Looks really nice.

    My family don't like silver beet. I have a good crop of rainbow beet growing - Looks very pretty with the green, yellow & red stalks & leaves in the garden.

    But our chooks enjoy eating it.

    Spinach we eat raw in salads.

    Will have ago at making your pie.

    Thanks for sharing even if you have already - my brain must of missed it - or silverbeet wasn't ready so didn't take the recipe in then. BWG
    Love Leanne

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  24. Ooo nice. My spinach and silver beet are not big enough yet for picking but when they are this will be one of the first dishes I will be cooking.

    Have a happy day

    Pippa

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  25. That looks soo Yummy! i have a lot of spinach that is ready for picking so i know what we are having for dinner tomorrow night. Thank you.

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  26. Hello everyone! Thanks you for the kind words.

    Sheryl, great news on the chicks.

    Niki, it's 8"x10". It's a french lasagne dish.

    Christine, the bottom is soft.

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  27. We made this tonight and it was delicious! My one year old went crazy over it!

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  28. This spinach pie looks so yummy!
    Thanks for sharing the recipe....
    Michelle

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  29. Great recipe! Do you think this would freeze well? Would I need to freeze it *before* cooking it? Thanks for all your advice :-)

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  30. Looks delicious! I'll give this one a go next week! Thank you for the recipe; yours are always winners!

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  31. Rhonda. I haven't been a member of your "club" for very long, but am enjoying all the hints and tips. I am looking for suggestions. My husband is allergic to onions and garlic and if you have ever tried to buy tinned food I am sure you know that just about everything includes O and G. Now that is easily fixed as I just don't buy anything savoury in a tin and don't use onions and garlic. But does anybody have any suggesstions as to what I can use to replace the O and G. Thank you for a wonderful column. Regards, Dorothy in Canberra, Australia.

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    Replies
    1. There is a spice called 'asafoetida' which has a flavor that is reminiscent of strong garlic... I think you can use it to replicate the flavor of onions and garlic.

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  32. Hi Rhonda,
    I made this last night. It is so delicious. I have posted about it on my blog, and have linked it to your blog and with your photo credit.
    I have retired my own spinach pie recipe in favour of this one. It now takes pride of place in my favourite recipe folder!

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