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Thomasina Miers’ spanakopita (spinach and feta pie).
Thomasina Miers’ spanakopita (spinach and feta pie). Photograph: Yuki Sugiura/The Guardian. Food styling: Valerie Berry
Thomasina Miers’ spanakopita (spinach and feta pie). Photograph: Yuki Sugiura/The Guardian. Food styling: Valerie Berry

Thomasina Miers' recipe for spinach and feta filo pie

Just five main ingredients make up this delicious spanakopita – a classic Greek filo pie of spinach and feta

I once made a Channel 4 show called The Wild Gourmets. We travelled the length and breadth of the country, foraging, fishing and hunting for food, and I was allowed to cook only with what we found – plus a few sparse ingredients. It can be incredibly liberating, cutting out too much choice from the cooking equation and forcing oneself to limit the number of ingredients thrown in. Here is a midweek feast: a classic spinach and feta pie from Greece that could have more ingredients, but is totally delicious with just these.

Spanakopita (spinach and feta pie)

Baby spinach is too soft for this recipe, but chard would work brilliantly: use the leaves as you would the spinach, and slice the stalks into slivers, then cook them with the leeks.

Prep 30 min
Cook 35 min
Serves 6-8

1kg whole leaf spinach
Salt and pepper
4 tbsp olive oil
120g butter, melted
2 leeks, washed and finely sliced
2 eggs, beaten
325g feta, crumbled
270g filo pastry

Wash the spinach, then put it in a colander and sprinkle with salt. Massage with your hands until it begins to break down and wilt, then leave to drain.

Meanwhile, heat two tablespoons of oil in a pan over a medium heat, add a tablespoon of the butter, season with salt and pepper, then gently fry the leeks for five to six minutes, until soft. Take off the heat and transfer to a bowl.

Squeeze the spinach again (you want it as dry as can be), then put it in a bowl with the eggs and feta. Taste and season, if needed. Pour in the remaining oil, then mix everything with your hands.

Heat the oven to 200C (180C fan)/390F/gas 6 and brush a medium-sized baking dish with some of the remaining butter. Line it with half the pastry, brushing more butter between each sheet and leaving any excess pastry hanging over the sides. Add the spinach mix, then layer the remaining pastry on top, brushing butter between each sheet as before. Pull up any overhanging pastry and fold it inwards, then brush the top layer with the remaining butter and bake for 25-30 minutes, until golden and crisp. Leave to cool for 10 minutes before serving – this is delicious with a green salad.

And for the rest of the week

If you have some herbs in the crisper, try chopping them and adding to the spinach filling: parsley, dill, thyme, marjoram or chervil would all work well. Ditto if you have any ricotta or cream cheese lurking at the back of the fridge.

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