It was a lovely warm day, so something light but full on flavour was the order of the day. This pie was going to be it.. I had some great local ham (buy British outdoor reared pork, it’s the best in the world!) Loads of Ricotta and some Filo pastry, with a few other items form the fridge such as Spinach and a little Feta I was away.

The pie filling:

1 Onion

Bag of Spinach (250g)

In a large frying pan place the finely diced onion with a healthy glug of Olive oil. Cook the onions down gently until they are translucent and sweet. When cooked add the Spinach to the pan (that’s why you needed a big pan!!). Cook the Spinach down until its completely wilted (but still green, don’t cook it to death) turn off the heat and then allow to cool slightly.

In a mixing bowl you want to make the filling..

250g Ricotta

1 Egg

Nutmeg

100g Feta Cheese

3 Slices of good Ham

Small handful of Fresh Thyme

Black Pepper

Simply mix the Ricotta and Egg together until thoroughly mixed, grate a healthy amount of Nutmeg into the mix and then season well with Pepper (no need for Salt, the Ham and Feta Cheese are salty enough). Chop the Feta Cheese into cubes, cut the Fresh Thyme up, slice the Ham and add to the bowl.

Grated Parmesan

I can’t get enough of Parmesan right now, so I also grated a load of Parmesan in at this point.



Buy kitchen gadgets at the Great Dinner Recipes Store

Next, back to your Onion, Spinach mix. Spoon the Spinach and onions into a sieve and using the back of that spoon squeeze out the remaining water from the leaves. Plenty will come out, but this is fine. If you used whole giant leaves of Spinach run a knife through them (on the chopping board of course) and then add to the Ricotta and Ham mix. Mix thoroughly.

The pie:

You’ll need a cheesecake tin or something like that, brush it well with Olive Oil and then get your Filo pastry from the fridge, you’ll need 4 or 5 big sheets of Filo, plus a heaped Tbsp of Pine nuts – plus plenty more Olive Oil.

5 sheets of Filo Pastry

Tbsp Pine Nuts



Olive Oil (and Brush)