The spinach and feta pie, AKA spanakopita, on which this recipe is based is deeply rooted in Greek culinary history. So I probably shouldn’t have messed with it, but I did, because I’m a tinkerer. I wanted a lot of spring onions, you see, because, together, cooked green onions and spinach are a bittersweet fantastic dream, especially when they’re tempered with some creamy ricotta. But then, to stop it from getting too sleepy, I escalated the fresh herbs, kept the sharp feta (I’m not a monster) and finished it with a fresh lemon and pine nut salsa. Same same, but actually quite a bit different.
Spinach and feta galette with lemon and pine nut salsa
Prep 15 min
Cook 45 min
Serves 4
50g pine nuts
Extra-virgin olive oil
200g spring onions (about 2 bunches), greens and whites sliced and rinsed
4 garlic cloves, peeled and finely minced
Fine sea salt
1kg frozen spinach, thawed
25g fresh dill, leaves and tender stalks, chopped
A grating of fresh nutmeg
2 tsp dried mint
1 lemon, zest finely grated
200g feta, crumbled
150g ricotta
7 sheets filo pastry (270g)
1 tsp nigella seeds
60g parsley, leaves picked and very finely chopped
Put the pine nuts in a large frying pan, put over a medium heat and toast for about five minutes, tossing every minute or so, until golden all over. Tip the pine nuts into a bowl.
Heat four tablespoons of oil in the same frying pan and, when hot, add all the spring onions, the minced garlic and a teaspoon of salt, and cook, stirring, for five minutes, until the onions have wilted and turned emerald green.
Add the thawed spinach, cook for 10 minutes, until all the water has evaporated, then add the dill and cook for a further two minutes. Add the nutmeg, dried mint, lemon zest, feta and ricotta, cook for two minutes more, then take off the heat.
Heat the oven to 200C (180C fan)/390F/gas 6. Lay a large sheet of baking paper (about 60cm across) on a worktop. Lay one sheet of pastry on the paper and brush all over with oil. Lay a second sheet of pastry on top angled at 1pm, oil that, too, then repeat at 3pm, 5pm, 7pm and all the way around until you’ve used all seven sheets of pastry.
Spoon the spinach and cheese mixture into the centre of the top sheet of pastry, and spread out so it’s 20-22cm across. Pull up the sides of the pastry into the middle, then scrunch the edges back to leave most of the spinach mix exposed. Oil any visible pastry again, then sprinkle over the nigella seeds and pop in the oven for 25 minutes, until the pastry is golden. Remove and leave to rest for 10-15 minutes.
Meanwhile, make the salsa. Pare off and discard all the pith from the zested lemon. Cut the flesh first into quarters and then into thin slices, add to the pine nut bowl, then stir in the chopped parsley, four tablespoons of oil and a quarter-teaspoon of salt.
When the galette has rested, spoon the salsa over the top and serve.
