Nearly Nanas Spinach Feta Pie Food

SPINACH AND FETA PIE

Steps:

• 1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat and cook the garlic, onions and chard stems until softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in the rice and 1/2 teaspoon salt to combine. Add 1 cup water, cover, reduce the heat to low and cook without stirring until the rice is tender but not mushy, about 12 minutes. Uncover, add the spinach, chard leaves and 3/4 teaspoon salt. Cook, stirring, until the greens are wilted, about 3 minutes. Transfer to a large bowl to cool (stirring with a large spoon will speed this up).
• 2. When the filling is cool, stir in the egg and then the feta, dill, raisins, pine nuts and lemon zest.
• 3. Place a large piece of parchment paper on a work surface. Lay out one sheet of phyllo and brush all over with some of the melted butter. Lay another sheet crosswise on top and brush with butter again. Working to form a large round of phyllo layers, lay an additional 6 sheets of phyllo dough diagonally over the first 2 sheets, brushing each sheet with butter, so they overlap in the center. Spread the filling in the center of the sheets and bring all the loose ends of the phyllo to rest on top to make a free-form pie, using the butter to help the pieces stick to each other. Lay 4 of the remaining 6 sheets of phyllo evenly over the top of the pie, tucking the edges under the bottom to form an enclosed disk and brushing each piece of dough with butter. Use the last 2 sheets, if necessary, to cover the filling or enclose the circle. Brush the outside of the pie with butter.
• 4. Lift the parchment with the pie onto a rimmed baking sheet and bake until the phyllo is golden brown and crispy, about 40 minutes. Serve hot or at room temperature with the Tomato Salad on the side.
• Toss the tomatoes with the pepperoncini and the olives in a medium bowl. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.

NEARLY NANA'S SPINACH & FETA PIE

Steps:

• Cook frozen spinach in microwave on HIGH for 7 minutes. Allow to cool slightly and squeeze out excess liquid from spinach and use a fork to loosen leaves apart into a large mixing bowl.
• Add remaining filling ingredients, mix with fork. (Don't over mix, only until just combined and this will make it light and fluffy). Moisten edges of pastry with some of the beaten egg.
• Divide filling evenly in the centre of the 3 pieces of puff pastry, leaving enough room on the pastry to roll and seal pastry into a log.
• Seal all edges and brush top of pastry with the remaining beaten egg.
• Space all 3 logs on top a lined baking tray and bake in a moderate oven until pastry is golden.

CRUSTLESS SPINACH AND FETA PIES

Steps:

• Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 400 degrees F. Heat olive oil in a medium skillet over medium-high heat. Squeeze excess water out of spinach. Add spinach and scallions and cook, stirring, until dry, about 4 minutes. Transfer to a colander and press with the back of a spoon to remove the last bit of moisture. Brush 4 (6-ounce) ramekins with some olive oil and put on a baking sheet. Put spinach mixture, eggs, half-and-half, bread crumbs, mint, salt, black and cayenne peppers, and nutmeg in a food processor and pulse until spinach is finely chopped. Remove blade and stir in feta cheese. Divide mixture evenly among ramekins. Bake until set around the edges but still slightly soft in the center, about 20 minutes. Turn oven off, leaving pies inside to set, about 5 minutes more. Run a knife around edge of each pie and invert onto plates; spoon some tomato salad around each and serve.
• Greek Tomato Salad: Toss tomatoes with pepperoncini and olives in a salad bowl. Add olive oil, lemon juice, oregano, and salt and black pepper to taste. Toss again.

FETA AND SPINACH PIE

Steps:

• Melt the butter and fry the onions until transparent.
• Add spinach.
• Cover and cook for 5 minutes.
• Add dill, parsley and seasonings.
• Cook rapidly and stir constantly for 10 minutes until excess liquid has evaporated.
• Empty into a mixing bowl.
• Cool.
• Add milk, cheese eggs and blend together.
• Butter an oblong casserole dish.
• Line the dish wih 8 sheets of phyllo pastry, brushing each sheet with melted butter.
• Add spinach filling.
• Place remaining phyllo pastry on top, brushing each sheet and the top with butter.
• Bake at 180 deg C/350F for 45 minutes.

SPINACH AND FETA PIE

Steps:

• Cook the spinach briefly - heat a large stock pot to high heat and add all your spinach plus a pat of butter to grease the bottom, and the spinach should wilt in about a minute. Cook only until just wilted. Drain the spinach and then actually squeeze it dry to get all excess water out. Then chop the spinach.
• Whisk together 12 eggs with salt, pepper, and cayenne. Set aside.
• Mince 6 strips of bacon, then fry in frying pan over medium heat until just about crisp. Drain off excess grease. Add in onions and cook until they are just starting to get soft.
• Add in spinach, then egg mixture, to the frying pan. Mix the eggs into the spinach so that the spinach is distributed evenly through the egg. Sprinkle 3 oz of feta over the top of the skillet. If you'd like, gently touch the feta with the tip of your spoon so that it goes slightly into the egg mixture, while still remaining on top.
• Bake at 350 degrees for approx 10 minutes You want the eggs to still look a little bit wet and soft in the middle. For me, 10 minutes was slightly too long. The next step is to put the eggs under the broiler for a minute or two, to let it get slightly golden brown at the top. The eggs will continue to cook from the heat in the pan even after you remove from the heat, so it is better to undercook and to allow the eggs to continue to set even after removed from the oven.

SPINACH, RICE & FETA PIE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
• Melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat.
• Add chopped onion and saute for 3 minutes.
• Stir in flour, salt and pepper.
• Gradually add milk, stirring with a whisk until well blended.
• Bring mixture to a simmer and cook for 1 minute or until slightly thick, stirring constantly.
• Remove skillet from heat and stir in the cooked rice, feta cheese, egg, egg whites and spinach.
• Pour mixture into a 9 inch pie plate coated with cooking spray.
• Sprinkle Parmesan cheese over pie.
• Bake for 35 minutes or until set.
• Broil for 2 minutes or until pie is golden brown.

SPINACH AND FETA PIE

Steps:

• Cut the pastry to fit the size or your baking dish, (I use a 9 inch regular Pyrex pie plate or a 9 x 9 inch square pan), then keep it covered with a damp cloth.
• Prepare the spinach.
• Heat the oil and saute the onion for 5 minutes until soft.
• Add the spinach and stir for 5 minutes over a medium heat then increase the heat to evaporate any moisture.
• Leave to cool then mix in the dill, eggs, cheese, salt and pepper.
• Brush the baking dish with melted butter.
• Brush 8 layers of pastry with butter and lay them in the bottom of the dish.
• Spread with the filling, then cover with the remaining pastry, brushing each one with melted butter and scoring the top into diamond shapes.
• Sprinkle with water and bake in a preheated oven at 325°F for 40 minutes until crisp and golden.
• Leave to stand for 10 minutes, then cut into wedges and serve with crisp lettuce leaves.

ATHENA'S SPANAKOPITA (SPINACH AND FETA PIE)

Steps:

• Place spinach and water in large microwave-safe bowl. Cover bowl with large dinner plate. Microwave on high power until spinach is wilted and decreased in volume by half, about 5 minutes. Using potholders, remove bowl from microwave and keep covered, 1 minute. Carefully remove plate and transfer spinach to colander set in sink. Using back of rubber spatula, gently press spinach against colander to release excess liquid.
• Transfer spinach to cutting board and roughly chop. Transfer spinach to clean kitchen towel and squeeze to remove excess water. Place drained spinach in large bowl. Add remaining filling ingredients and mix. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F and line rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
• Using pastry brush, lightly brush 14 by 9-inch rectangle in center of parchment with melted butter to cover area same size as phyllo. Lay 1 phyllo sheet on buttered parchment, and brush thoroughly with melted butter. Repeat with 9 more phyllo sheets, brushing each with butter (you should have total of 10 layers of phyllo).
• Spread spinach mixture evenly over phyllo, leaving 1/4 inch border on all sides. Cover spinach with 6 more phyllo sheets, brushing each with butter and sprinkling each with about 2 tablespoons Pecorino cheese. Lay 2 more phyllo sheets on top, brushing each with butter (these layers should not be sprinkled with Pecorino).
• Working from center outward, use palms of your hands to compress layers and press out any air pockets. Using sharp knife, score pie through the top 3 layers of phyllo into 24 equal pieces. Sprinkle with sesame seeds.
• Bake until phyllo is golden and crisp, 20 to 25 minutes. Cool on baking sheet 10 minutes or up to 2 hours. Slide spanakopita, still on parchment, to cutting board. Cut into squares and serve.

SPANAKOPITA (SPINACH AND FETA PIE)

Steps:

• Combine butter and olive oil in large heavy pan and fry onion and garlic until soft.
• Wash and drain spinach and remove thick stalks, then blanch for a minute or two in boiling water.
• Add blanched spinach to onion and garlic mix and cook for further 5 minutes or so.
• Spinach should be deep green colour and stalks should be tender.
• Add eggs (I use no eggs, but the traditional receipe calls for them) and dill.
• Crumble feta into pan and stir well for a minute or two.
• Eggs should be cooked by then.
• Season with salt and pepper.
• Butter baking pan.
• If using phyllo, separate sheets, and brush each sheet individually with melted butter.
• Use 15-20 sheets, and overlap them, making sure that sheets hang well over the edge of the pan.
• If using short-crust or puff pastry, roll out a sheet big enough to line pan with plenty hanging outside.
• If making bite-sized pies cut squares approximately 2 1/12" square.
• Drain spinach mixture by pressing lightly and allowing liquid to drain into a cup or bowl.
• The filling should not be too wet or the pastry gets mushy.
• It should also not be too dry or the pie is not juicy enough.
• Put filling into pastry and bring edges up to enclose filling.
• (Fill each bite-size square with a spoonfull or so, fold over pastry into a triangle).
• Seal by crimping, tucking in, or any means that work.
• Score the top lightly, not enough to reach filling, and brush with egg.
• Bake in moderate oven until pastry is golden and done.
• Good hot or cold.