Leanne’s spinach pies with homemade spelt pastry
Serves approx. 6-8 ppl
Being married to a Greek this is a family favourite that we enjoy at every one of our family gatherings. This is my healthier take on the traditional spinach pie as it uses homemade spelt pastry and is topped with nutrient loaded seeds.
This is quite an in-depth recipe but makes a big batch which I love so you can freeze some for later, or have extra for lunch the next day. Its a beautiful dish to make on a rainy Sunday afternoon : )
Ingredients
Filling
· ¼ cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
· 1-2 brown onions (diced, grated or chopped in food processor)
· 1 leek x white part diced
· Sea salt and pepper
· 4 x bunches of English spinach – discard roots and chop roughly. Wash thoroughly
· Handful of basmati rice
· ½ bunch of dill chopped
· Handful of parsley chopped finely
· ½ kilo sheep & goat fetta – crumbled by hand or grated
· 1 cup of mixed seeds for sprinkling on top
Spelt Pastry
· 300g wholemeal spelt flour
· Pinch sea salt
· 120g butter (chilled & diced)
· 1 egg yolk
· 1-2 tbs water (approx.) chilled
OR
Use store bought pastry like Careme All Butter Wholemeal Spelt puff pastry
Method
Filling
1. Heat ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil in a large pot over medium heat
2. Sautee onion & leek with a pinch of salt for approx. 5mins (cooked but not browning.
3. Add basmati rice and stir through.
4. Add in chopped spinach with a few splashes of water (2-3 tablespoons) and put the lid on the pot. Allow spinach to wilt (approx. 10-20mins). You may need to stir the mixture a couple of times throughout.
5. Once cooked, turn off the heat and stir through fresh herbs. Allow to cool.
6. Stir through fetta.
Pies
1. Spray mini tart tins with oil and then press your pastry into the tins. You can make 1 large pie or mini ones like I have used in the photo. Blind bake your pastry as outlined below. Then fill generously with filling and sprinkle mixed seeds on top.
2. Bake for 20-30mins until seeds are golden brown and filling is warmed through.
Spelt Shortcrust Pastry*
I largely avoid store bought pastries if I can but if you want a quicker option than making your own I really like the Careme All Butter Spelt Pastry, as it contains just flour and butter.
1. In a food processor mix the flour and sea salt together. Thermomix 5 secs, speed 4.
2. Add the butter and process until it comes together in a coarse crumb (you can also do this by hand by rubbing the butter into the flour mix). Thermomix 10 seconds, speed 6.
3. Add the egg yolk, and process until the dough starts to come together, then gently knead it for a minute (to just bring it together, don’t overwork it). If you are not using the egg yolk, you’ll just need extra water. Thermomix 10 seconds, speed 6, then 30 seconds, wheat symbol (to knead).
4. Add extra water if necessary tablespoon by tablespoon until it is proper consistency (head to Well Nourished for more info on pastry consistency)
5. For a crispier pastry, blind bake at 180 degrees (fan-forced) for approximately 10 minutes or bake on the bottom shelf of your oven for about 20 minutes (until golden brown).
6. Store in airtight container in the fridge or freezer.
*Pastry recipe courtesy of Well Nourished.com.au
