One solution to buying too many greens - spanakopita

Due to moving and general busy-ness, my first trip to a Vancouver Summer farmer's market was this Wednesday. Except for a small farm (owned by a Welsh lady) that specialises in hot house heirloom tomatoes, I find the pickings somewhat slim in June. With not much else to buy, I grabbed two large bunches of greens - a mixed bouquet of kale and a bunch of bright lights Swiss chard, with the candy coloured stalks of pink, yellow and red. I also had a small bunch of my favourite Osaka pink kale in the fridge from a previous shopping trip and was now faced with a dilemma. Neil usually complains that kale is chewy, especially when I've merely fried it. It finds it's way to the edge of his plate often and I admit, mine has the tendency to do the same. What could I do with all this green stuff?

I racked my brains for quite a while. Omelet? Soup? Quiche? Nothing seemed appetising. I knew I would have to boil the greens for a while in chicken stock to lessen the dreaded chew, but then it hit me, spanakopita. Similar to this dish, which is also usually made with spinach, I would substitute the varied greens from the market instead. Perfect. Problem solved. 

I think it's the combination of the fresh and salty feta, creamy ricotta and briny, earthy greens that makes this work and the crisp, baked Filo pastry of course. Aggressive seasoning as some chefs would lament, is also key and something I'm discovering slowly, (again). You can make this into a pie, ready to be cut into squares, or make the cute triangles as I did, which utilises a lot of the pastry in each pie, but what's wrong with lots of flaky, crisp layers to bite into?

Recipe : Spanakopita with market greens & Feta

1 tbsp oil and 1 tbsp butter

1 onion, peeled and chopped finely

2 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped finely

the stalks from two or three large Swiss chard leaves, chopped finely (optional)

2 small zucchini, chopped finely

1/2 bell pepper, seeded and finely chopped

salt and freshly ground black pepper

5 - 6 cups mixed greens such as kale, chard, spinach, stalks removed

4 cups chicken stock

1/2 cup ricotta cheese

1/3 cup Feta cheese, crumbled

2 eggs

1 box of Filo pastry, thawed

lots of melted butter

Heat the 1 tbsp of oil and butter in a pan over medium heat and add the onion, garlic, chard stalks, zucchini and bell pepper. Stir for a few moments, than turn the heat down to low and let the vegetables saute for about 10 minutes until they are soft and translucent. Season 'aggressively' as they will be mixed with the ricotta and feta later. 

Meanwhile, bring the chicken stock and greens to a boil in a large pan over medium - high heat and cover. Let the greens boil fairly merrily for about 30 minutes until they are very soft. 

Drain, rinse with cold water and place onto a few sheets of paper towel. Bring the towel together at the edges to encase the greens inside and squeeze as much water as you are able from them. You may be surprised at how such a large amount can reduce down to a small fistful. Chop them into a fine dice and mix with the sauteed vegetables. Taste and add more seasoning, (perhaps a squeeze or two of lemon juice also), if you think it needs it.

Mix the ricotta, eggs and Feta cheese together in a large bowl until well mixed and tip the vegetables and greens onto the top. Mix well.

To make the spanakopita, you need a dish of melted butter, a brush and a flat, dry surface. First, take one sheet of the filo and brush all over with butter. Lay another sheet on top. Cut each square into three or five lengthwise, (depending on how large you would like your pies). Take about 1 tbsp of the filling mixture and lay it at one end of the strip. (Don't use too much). 

Preheat the oven to 375oF

Note: It's important to keep the rest of the Filo well covered when not using to prevent it drying out.

Brush the edges and rest of the strip with more melted butter and fold the filo over to create a triangle, see above. Keep folding, alternating the direction until you come to the end of the strip and have a triangle shaped pie. Brush lightly with butter and place on a greased and floured baking tray.

Continue with the other pieces of filo until you have used up all the filling. You should get about 25 small spanakopita, (5 strips from one square of filo or about 15 larger, cutting the square into 3 strips).

Bake in batches as you fill up the baking sheet or use several baking trays at once. They will take around 20 - 30 minutes to go golden brown and crisp. 

The spanakopita can also be frozen before baking, ready to be pulled out and baked from frozen whenever you feel the need for some.

You may also like:

Corn beef pasties

Curried vegetable pasties

Baked ricotta with saffron & lemon

Red kidney bean & tomato samosas