Green Filo Pie

With all the Christmas parties, feasting and drinking that are going on at this time of year, sometimes it's nice to have a simple dinner at home with lots of green vegies. This pie is the perfect dish.

It really is easy to make and you can prepare it in the morning, or even the day before, and then just pop it in the oven when you're ready to eat.

It's fantastic hot, straight out of the oven, when the filo pastry is all crispy, but it's also nice to have cold. Perfect to take on a picnic or for lunch the next day.

I used cavalo nero and kale for my greens, because the fruit shop had them on the clearance table, but you could use spinach, silverbeet, chard or any anything else that takes your fancy. Feel free to use whatever herbs you have on hand too. Dill, basil, parsley, coriander, oregano.......they are all lovely.

I've made this pie lots of times before, but never thought to put the filling mixture in the food processor to combine it. Normally I stir everything together in a big bowl, which leaves separate chunks of ricotta and spinach. It's so much easier to whiz it all up and have a lovely green pie with a much smoother texture. I'll definitely be doing this again next time.

The Greeks may not approve of my version of cheese and spinach pie, but I think it's pretty tasty!

Green Filo Pie

2 bunches of greens

300g fresh ricotta cheese

130g feta cheese, chopped

4 eggs

A handful each of parsley and mint leaves

1/4 cup sour cream or creme fraiche

40g Parmesan cheese, coarsely grated

Pepper to taste

1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

2 cloves of garlic, chopped

1 small onion, diced

375g packet of filo pastry, at room temperature

Wash the greens and trim the woody stems and veins from the leaves and coarsely chop.

Blanch in boiling water for 30 seconds, or until wilted.

Remove from the water and drain well in a colander. Squeeze to remove as much water as possible.

Set aside to cool.

In a food processor, combine all the ingredients except the filo pastry. Whiz to combine and until it's a lovely green colour and quite smooth. Season to taste with pepper. You shouldn't need much salt as the parmesan and feta are salty.

Preheat oven to 180 degrees.

Lightly grease a large baking dish with oil spray.

Layer dish with sheets of filo, spraying lightly between each sheet with a little of the oil spray. I needed to overlap the sheets to cover the base of my tray and allow enough overhand to fold over the top of the pie. You want about 5 layers of pastry to make a sturdy base.

Fill the case with all of the spinach mixture and spread evenly in the dish.

Take one piece of filo pastry and fold into thirds. Place in the centre of the pie and then fold the edges in to create a parcel.

Lightly spray the top with oil spray.

Bake in the oven for 45 minutes, or until the top is golden and the filo pastry crispy.

Remove from the oven and allow to sit for 5 minutes before serving.

To serve, cut into large wedges and serve with a simple salad and your favourite tomato chutney.

Enjoy!

Baked Ricotta

I'm always looking for new vegetarian meals for meat free Monday, as I do get sick of having the same sort of thing all the time. As much as I love haloumi, it is nice to have something different occasionally!

This dish is really easy, and you can change the flavours depending on what you have in the fridge or the cupboard. It's also quite light and after a weekend of some serious eating, it was just what I needed. If you like olives and capers, throw a handful of each into the mixture. I had some olive salt that had been sitting in the cupboard for ages, so used that instead of regular salt. You could also throw in some baby spinach leaves when it comes out of the oven and let the heat in the dish wilt it, rather than serving it with a side salad.

For something a bit different, you could even serve this as an entree or nibble at a party with fresh slices of baguette or crackers, although you would need to cut the capsicum and tomato into smaller pieces so that your guests didn't make a complete mess!

When you don't have the time to make up something fancy, but you want a tasty lunch or light dinner, then this is perfect. I hope you like it.

Baked Ricotta With Capsicum And Tomato

1/4 cup olive oil

500g fresh ricotta, cut into 4 wedges

Salt and pepper to taste

1/2 a punnet of cherry tomatoes, cut in half

1 red capsicum, roasted and chopped into bite sized pieces

1 yellow capsicum, roasted and chopped into bite sized pieces

4 sprigs of thyme

A sprinkle of chilli flakes, or to taste

Crusty bread, to serve

Preheat oven to 200 degrees.

Pour half the oil into an oven proof dish and then arrange the ricotta wedges in a single layer on top.

Season with salt and pepper.

Scatter the tomatoes and chopped capsicum over the ricotta. Season to taste.

Drizzle with more of the oil and top with the thyme and chilli flakes.

Bake for about 25 minutes or until the ricotta is starting to turn golden around the edges.

Remove from the oven, drizzle with the remaining oil and season further, if you like.

Serve with crusty bread and a light leafy salad.

Enjoy!

Green Pizza

Pizza is a fairly common dinner in our house because it is just so quick, easy and tasty. It's one meal that I can guarantee the kids will eat and it doesn't take long to whip up. I'll often make a double recipe of the base, so that there is one prepared and in the freezer, ready to use when I don't have the time or energy to make one from scratch.

The kids love ham and pineapple, but I like to be a bit more adventurous with my toppings. Sometimes it is just salami, olives, cheese and tomato, other times smoked salmon, ricotta and rocket with garlic oil. Pizza is a great way to use up all those forlorn looking bits and pieces in the fridge too.

The topping for this pizza was inspired by a recipe I found in a Donna Hay magazine. What better way to add some greens into your diet than atop a pizza! Mixed with some panfried mushrooms, chilli, lemon and ricotta, it was delicious. The topping was simple to make too and very healthy. I had some of the mixture left over, which was great for lunch the next day. Cooked on the pizza, the kale went all crispy. You can have your (kale) chips with your pizza and not feel guilty!

If you're not sure about the kale topping on a pizza, make it to serve as a vegetable with chicken, lamb or steak. I think I'll definitely be making this one again. Even the meat-loving husband gave it the thumbs up!

I'm still trying to find the perfect pizza base, but this one wasn't bad. Next time I'd roll it a little thinner, to make the base more crispy. If you like a thicker, more doughy base, then this one would be great for you. It was also really easy and quick to make. No need to wait for the yeast to rise and simple enough to leave to mix away in the mixer while you prepare the topping.

Pizza Dough

3/4 cup warm water

1x8g sachet instant dried yeast

pinch of salt

1/2 tsp caster sugar

2 Tbs olive oil

2 cups plain flour

Place all the ingredients in the bowl of a mixer with a dough hook.

Mix on slow speed to combine, then increase the speed to medium and knead for about 10 minutes, or until elastic. You might need to add a little more water if it looks too dry.

If you don't have a mixer, you can do this by hand, but will just need a bit more elbow grease!

Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface to the size of your pizza tray. 

If you like it thick, it will make one base, if you prefer a thinner base, it will make two.

Kale Pizza Topping

A good drizzle of olive oil

250g swiss brown mushrooms, thickly sliced

4 stalks of kale

1/2 tsp dried chilli flakes

Finely grated zest of 1 lemon

1 cup fresh ricotta

Grated parmesan to serve

Salt and pepper to taste

Heat the oil in a frypan on medium heat.

Add the mushroom slices and fry until soft and beginning to brown. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

While the mushrooms are cooking, cut the kale leaves away from the stalks and tear into pieces.

Place the kale in a large bowl with the chilli flakes and lemon rind.

Add the hot mushrooms and mix to combine and slightly soften the kale.

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees.

Place rolled out pizza dough on your desired tray.

Spread thickly with the ricotta cheese, right to the edges of the dough.

Top with the mushroom and kale mixture. You might have some left over, depending how thick you like it.

Bake for 15 minutes, or until the base is golden and crispy.

Remove from the oven, sprinkle with grated parmesan to taste and serve.

Enjoy!