Spanakopita

At the market in Cordes sur Ciel this weekend, the fruit on offer is beginning to change. Local kiwis are giving way to hints of summer, with delicious strawberries and cherries in abundance. Vegetables too are changing, with different varieties of tomatoes making an appearance, along with yellow and green courgettes and new potatoes.

I spotted some leaves called oseille at one of the stalls. I had no idea what they were but they looked interesting, not dissimilar to young spinach. The producers explained what they were, but sadly I was none the wiser. They told me they were delicious in soups, with fish and could be cooked a little like spinach. This gave me an idea for the first in this series of seasonal recipes.

Once home, I looked up oseille and discovered that they are sorrel leaves, not a word in my French vocabulary!  I am not even sure if I have ever cooked sorrel.

In the potager, my spinach is coming to the end now so I thought I would use this up in a favourite family recipe, Spanakopita. Spanakopita is a Greek spinach pie, made with layers of filo pastry brushed with melted butter and filled with lots of spinach mixed with beaten egg and seasoned with pepper and nutmeg.  

Since my boys have become vegan I have enjoyed the challenge of adapting some old favourites into vegan recipes including this one. So in the interest of slightly less impact on the planet, I will share the vegan version with you.

This time I made it with a bit of a twist – the addition of sorrel! The result was delicious, so if you can find any sorrel leaves add a handful to the spinach.

Enjoy and let me know how you get on.

Happy cooking!

Ali xx

Spanakopita (vegan version)

Ingredients:

I packet filo pastry sheets

500g approx. fresh or frozen spinach (plus a handful of sorrel leaves if you can find any)

1 leek – sliced

1 large mushroom – chopped

1 shallot – chopped

2 cloves garlic – chopped or minced

Olive oil

Herbs (fresh or dried) – I used marjoram, parsley and thyme, plus a little za’atar

Black pepper and salt

Method:

1: Preheat the oven to 180°C/Gas 4.

2: Heat a little olive oil in a frying pan, add the chopped shallot and garlic and fry for a couple of minutes.

3: Add the sliced leek and chopped mushroom and cook over a low to medium heat until the onion begins to brown.

4: Season with fresh chopped herbs of your choice – marjoram, thyme and parsley are lovely – and some freshly ground black pepper.  Experiment a little by adding whatever herbs and spices you think will be nice – I often add za’atar or sumac, depending on the flavour I want (not so Greek!).

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5: At the same time, rinse, then chop the spinach leaves in half and steam until cooked. Add the sorrel if you have it. If you are using frozen spinach, defrost it by gently heating or taking it out of the freezer earlier.

6: Once cooked, squeeze out excess liquid and add to the filling and stir together. Set aside.

7: Using a round or square baking tin (mine is round, 25cm diameter) brush the tin with a little olive oil.

8: Brush a sheet of filo with olive oil and place in the tin with the edges overlapping the tin. Continue until you have added 5 sheets, making sure the pastry is over the edges all around the tin.

9: Spoon the filling onto the filo and spread it out to fill the tin. Fold the edges of the filo pastry over the filling.

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10: Brush a further five filo sheets, one at a time, placing them one by one on top of the filling to cover the top, tucking the edges down as you go. They don’t need to be completely flat, a little crumpled helps the look and crunchiness of the pie.

11: Brush the top with a little more olive oil and place in the oven for 30-40 minutes or until golden brown.

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12: Serve hot or cold, with new potatoes and/or salad.

Enjoy.

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Individual spanakopita:

I often make individual pies, using 10cm tins. If you do this, follow steps 7 onwards but cut the filo pastry sheets to make smaller squares. The smaller pies will need about 20 mins in the oven, or until golden brown.