“This pie will always remind me of my mother – who is an expert baker – and our happy days in Greece with the family.” Vicky Crease
Photograph by Sarah De Pina
Whole spanakopita with leeks and spring onion
Ingredients
SPINACH FILLING
- 800g spinach, stems removed and leaves chopped
- 500g feta cheese, crumbled
- 2 leeks, sliced
- 1 bunch spring onions, thinly sliced
- 30g fresh mint, chopped
- 30g fresh dill, chopped
- 2 eggs
- 100ml olive oil
FILO PASTRY BASE AND TOPPING
- cooking spray/butter, to grease
- 8 sheets filo pastry, defrosted and laid out on a clean surface under a damp cloth to prevent the pastry from drying out
- 100g butter, melted
- 30ml (2 tbsp) sesame seeds
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 200°C.
For the spinach filling, combine the spinach, feta, leeks, spring onions, mint and dill in a large bowl.
In a separate bowl, beat the eggs and add to the spinach mixture. Add the olive oil.
For the pastry base, lay 1 sheet of filo pastry in a shallow, greased 25cm round baking tin and brush the top of the filo sheet lightly with melted butter, ensuring the sheet extends over the edge of the baking tin. Lay another sheet of filo on top, brush with butter, and repeat the process with two more sheets of filo, making sure these sheets also extend over the edge of the tin.
Spread the spinach and cheese mixture over the filo-lined tin and fold the overlapping pastry back over the filling. Brush with melted butter and then layer with 4 sheets of filo, brushing each one with butter as you layer them. Arrange the remaining filo sheets in an elegant swirl on the top. Sprinkle with sesame seeds.
Bake in the preheated oven for 35 minutes or until golden brown. Serve warm.
Imka Webb is a freelance digital marketing expert and the digital editor of Food & Home Entertaining magazine. www.imkawebb.com
