The best thing I cooked this week

Perk up your palette with a taste of the Mediterranean

by Natalie Hammond

If the contents of your lunchbox have seen better days – mine seems stuck on a tedious rotation of soup, salads and sandwiches – might we suggest spanakopita? These filo pastry pies hail from Greece and, stuffed with a homely filling of wilted spinach, feta cheese, onions and egg, are delicious served fresh from the oven or cold the morning after making.  

 

Spanakopita is usually served sliced into slabs or shaped into neat triangles. I find filo pastry fiddly enough without having to fold the papery sheets into three-pointed parcels so I stuck to making a pie the shape (and size it turns out) of a paving stone. After caramelising onions and stirring spinach leaves through until they wilt, add the cooled mixture to crumbled feta cheese, beaten eggs, a liberal pinch of dill seeds and black pepper. Using readymade filo pastry (making it’s a total faff, trust us), layer four sheets brushed with olive oil onto a baking sheet. Dollop the mixture on the pastry and spread evenly before topping with six filo sheets. Brush your assembled pie with a beaten egg, sprinkle with dill seeds and bake at 200°C for 30-40mins or until golden and crisp on top.

 

I was worried the microwave might savage the spanakopita’s flaky topping, but it managed to keep its crunch and the savoury smell of feta and dill seeds was almost enough to have me singing ‘Mamma Mia’ to a bemused crowd of colleagues. I ate mine without any accompaniments, but would recommend a Greek-style side salad – mix kalamata olives, cucumber, tomato, red onion and yet more feta cheese together and douse with olive oil – if you’re saving your spanakopita for supper.

 

With British Pie Week kicking off on 3 March, we’ve got tons of tasty recipes to keep you occupied, like our leftover salmon fish pie or this Valencian chicken pie made with an olive oil pastry. And if you’re craving something comforting, buttery and sweet, nothing will hit the spot quite like a rhubarb and apple pie.

 

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Carla  Griscti

Carla Griscti

Editorial assistant on allaboutyou; Music lover, travel bee and food fanatic.

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Emma Marsden

Food consultant of All About You, loves creating something out of nothing and decluttering.

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Bernadette Fallon

Editor of All About You; an online journalist with a fetish for glossy magazines.

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Adrienne Wyper

Deputy editor of All About You. I love cycling, cooking and creating

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Carol  Muskoron

Carol Muskoron

Associate editor of All About You, loves life (mostly) and one-pan recipes (always).

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