Spinach and feta pastry slice

4:11 AM | Labels: English Food, olivemagazine, UK Food

This vegetarian pastry recipe was written by Sabrina Ghayour, inspired by her travels in Greece. She says: “When I think of Athens, I think of the Acropolis, Parthenon and all those beautiful monuments. Markets, cafés, food stands and restaurants line the streets, and when I think of Greek food I think of grilled meats, bread and cheese, meze and every pie filling, both sweet and savoury, that you can imagine. The Greek dishes I make the most at home are pies, of every description – custard-filled, mince, potato and egg, spinach, cheese or, even better, spinach and cheese, aka the classic spanakopita.”

100
Total time 45 minutes
Difficulty Easy

Ingredients

vegetable oil 1 tbsp
baby spinach 400g
feta 300g, crumbled
garlic granules 1 tbsp
ready-rolled puff pastry 320g sheet
egg 1, beaten

Method

Step 1

Heat the oven to 220C/fan 200C/gas 7, and line your largest baking tray with some baking paper.

Step 2

Heat a large frying pan over a medium heat. Once hot, drizzle in the oil and cook the spinach for a few minutes, stirring occasionally, until completely wilted. Tip into a sieve and allow to cool before squeezing out as much liquid as possible. Finely chop the spinach and put into a mixing bowl along with the crumbled feta, garlic granules and a generous amount of black pepper. Mix together well until evenly combined.

Step 3

Remove the pastry sheet from the fridge and unroll. Cut the sheet lengthways down the middle to make two long rectangles. Pile the filling onto one piece, leaving a generous border around the edges, but compressing the spinach to make a sausage shape along the length of the pastry. Cut little widthways slashes along the other piece of pastry, stopping just over a centimetre shy of the edges. Brush around the spinach sausage with some of the beaten egg. Gently lift the sheet up and stretch it a little to open up the slashes and then put carefully over the spinach-topped pastry.

Step 4

Use a fork to seal all around the pastry edges, crimping as you go. Brush the pastry all over with the beaten egg, avoiding getting any in the exposed areas of spinach, and then bake for 25-30 minutes or until crisp and deep golden brown. Serve warm or at room temperature.