Spanakopita

My hometown of Melbourne boasts the largest population of Greeks outside of Athens in the whole world, so I was fortunate to grow up surrounded by Greek culture and of course, the country’s amazing cuisine. There are so many variations on this dish but, as a Greek friend of mine once told me, spanakopita just means spinach pie, so add to it what you will. Spanakopita is often made with phyllo, which is delicious, but we chose to use a more hearty, rustic pastry. If you want, you can sprinkle sesame seeds on top before baking, for a little extra crunch.

Makes 6 pies.

Ingredients

For the filling

2 tablespoons olive oil

½ bunch fresh dill, chopped

1 ½ large leeks, white and tender green parts only, chopped

3 spring onions (scallions), chopped

500 g (1 lb 2 oz) spinach, frozen salt and black pepper

375 g (13 oz) feta cheese

2 medium eggs, beaten

For the pastry

500 g (1 lb 2 oz) plain (all-purpose) flour, sifted

½ teaspoon salt

4 tablespoons olive oil

250 ml (8 fl oz) water

1 tablespoon white wine vinegar

2 large eggs, beaten

sesame seeds (optional)

Method

Preheat the oven to 175°C (350°F).

Heat the 2 tablespoons olive oil in a pan and sauté the dill, leeks and spring onions over medium heat. Add the spinach and cover, leaving over low heat to defrost the spinach, about 10 minutes, then stir together. Season to taste. Once the filling has cooled, crumble the feta into the mixture and fold in the eggs.

For the pastry, pile the flour on the work surface and make a hole in the middle: you want it to look like a little volcano. Put the salt, olive oil, water and white wine vinegar in the crater and knead it all together until you have a good texture to roll out. Roll the dough out to 2.5 mm (¹/₈ inch).

Using a plate of about 22 cm (8 ½ inches), cut out 6 circles of dough. Brush the edge of the circle with half of the egg. Separate your spinach mixture into 6 portions. Lay the mixture on the lower half of each circle, leaving the edges clear, and fold the upper half of the pastry on top. Press the sides together using a fork. Brush the tops with the remaining egg.

Place the spanakopitas on a baking tray lined with baking paper, and bake in the oven for 25 minutes, or until golden brown.