Spanakopita

This veggie classic is always a pleasure to eat - the combination of sweet, earthy spinach with tangy feta and crispy, flakey filo is unmistakably Greek in flavour and always reminds me of holidays. 

And guess what? It’s super easy! Just be sure to pour off as much liquid as you can from the spinach. I brush olive oil between the filo layers as I find it less fussy than melting butter and like to add some rocket for texture and peppery flavour.

ingredients

serves 4-6

• 3 tbsp olive oil, plus extra to drizzle

• 1 bunch green or red spring onions, sliced

• 400g spinach, washed

• 4 eggs

• 200g feta, crumbled

• A little nutmeg

• 225g packet filo pastry

• A small bunch of dill or mint, chopped

• 120g rocket

instructions

Preheat the oven to 180C/180C fan/325F/gas 4. Warm the 3 tablespoons of olive oil in a large pan over a medium heat and fry the spring onion for 3 minutes, until beginning to soften. Add the spinach, a big pinch of salt, cover with a lid and steam-cook for 5 minutes (depending on the toughness of the leaf) until tender, stirring once or twice. Drain in a sieve. 

Meanwhile, beat together the egg and feta and season with pepper and nutmeg. 

Drizzle some oil on the bottom of a medium (approx 25cm x 17cm) baking dish and start layering up the filo sheets, drizzling a little oil every 2 sheets. Try to arrange them so that you have pieces hanging over the whole dish. Keep going until you’ve layered them all.

Drain the greens and press against the side of the sieve to extract any excess water, then stir in the dill and rocket. Spoon the greens into the pastry base and pour over the egg and feta mix. Gently stir it up with a fork, then bring together the overhanging bits of pastry, gently scrunching them so the top is completely covered.

Drizzle with a little more oil, then place in the oven for 45-50 minutes until the top is crisp and golden. If it colours too quickly, reduce the temperature of the oven, cover gently with foil and cook for a little longer. Allow to cool and firm up for 10 minutes or allow to cool and serve room temperature.