Serves 6
This is easy to make but it does have a number of components so may be too involved for many of you. Most of the bits can be prepared in advance though and assembled just before you are ready to cook.
PASTRY
I always make the whole quantity of pastry but will often freeze half and then halve all other ingredients each time I make.
- 250g unsalted butter, chilled and diced
- 250g plain flour
- 75 ml cold water
Pulse the butter and flour in a food processor until there are no lumps of butter. Add the water and process until a ball of pastry is formed. Leave in the fridge for half an hour before rolling out. Even if you don’t want to bake the pastry straight away I recommend trying to roll out the pastry before it gets too hard. You can always leave the rolled pastry in the fridge before baking. If covered, it is fine to leave the pastry in the fridge overnight ready rolled out. I don’t worry about the shape of the pie but it should be approx. 5mm thick.
Before baking prick all over with a fork.
TOPPING
- virgin olive oil
- red onions x 4, thinly sliced
- 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- thyme leaves
- 600g fresh spinach
- 200g ricotta
- 200ml crème fraiche
- 2 egg yolks
- 50 freshly grated parmesan or vegetarian alternative
- Prepare the onions: saute the onions in the olive oil with the chopped garlic and thyme leaves (can be prepared a day ahead)
- Prepare the spinach: wash well and blanch in a large pan of boiling water until wilted. Drain well. leave in a colander until ready to use. You can turn every now and again to remove the excess water. (can be prepared a day ahead)
- Mix the crème fraiche, egg yolk and parmesan in a bowl.
- Ricotta: Drain off any excess water from the ricotta and give a mix to break up.
ASSEMBLY & COOKING
- Cook pastry for approx. 10 mins on 180C. It should be crisp and lightly browned.
- Just before you are ready to put in the oven before eating (it takes 15/20 mins to cook), put the topping on – first the onion mix, then the spinach (make sure it is not dripping water), next dot teaspoons of ricotta randomly over the spinach and finally do the same with the crème fraiche.
- It’s now ready to bake for 15/20 mins on 180C until golden patches appear on the topping. Eat straight away.
I served it with the Grated Salad in the previous post.