Meatless Monday - spanakopita

Before I embarked on meat free week a month ago I put out a call to twitter [as well as to you, blog readers], to ask for some meat free recipes that the carnivores would like. 

The wonderful Julie Goodwin [who I WILL meet one day] very kindly, and immediately [!] tweeted me a few ideas, then saying if I sent her my email she would email some recipes. Um, YES! Not only have I been a fan of hers since she her first audition when she won over the judges with lamb and mash, but she is also from the Central Coast, where I grew up. And we've had a few twitter chats, which makes her even more likeable as far as I'm concerned. 

Anyway, Jules [can I call you that?] sent me a bunch of vegetarian recipes [including one with bacon - great to see someone else considers bacon to be a veggie :)]. I didn't make any of them during meat free week, but I did whip them out yesterday when wondering what to make for meatless Monday. 

After a quick look through the fridge and discovering a wilting bunch of silverbeet, I went with spanakopita, a dish I've always loved but not cooked in at least a couple of years.  Perfect for meatless Monday. 

Warning - dodgy photos throughout! We were hungry and hubby and Mr12 were keen to go and hit golf balls at the driving range

Spanakopita
By Mel Kettle, based on a recipe provided to me by Julie Goodwin

What you need:

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 onions, diced (I used 1 brown and 1 red as that was all I had]

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1 large bunch silverbeet,  about 1kg, stalks cut off, washed well, then dried

200g feta

250g ricotta

50g freshly grated parmesan

2 tablespoons fresh dill, chopped

¼ teaspoon grated nutmeg

salt and pepper

4 eggs, lightly beaten

12 sheets filo pastry (about half of a 375g packet)

80g butter, melted

What you do:

Preheat oven to 180C 

Heat oil in a large frypan over medium-high heat. Gently fry the onion, then add the garlic and cook for 2-3 minutes until it softens. Be careful not to let it brown.  

Add the spinach and cook for another 3-4 minutes or until the spinach has completely wilted. Drain off as much liquid as possible [you could use a colander] and squeeze the excess moisture out with some tongs [mine didn't have a lot of moisture, as most of it cooked off]. 

In a large bowl, mix the cheeses, dill, nutmeg, eggs, salt and pepper. I find cheese quite salty so didn't add much salt - but taste to see what you think. Add the spinach and mix well together. 

How beautiful does this look! The vibrant yellow is courtesy of the eggs from our gorgeous chooks 

I used a large lasagne dish (20cm x 30cm) to bake this in, but Julie also suggests a baking tray. Place one sheet of filo in the lasagne dish and brush it with melted butter. Repeat this step with five more sheets of filo.

Add the spinach mixture into the dish. Top with a sheet of filo, brushed with butter. Add the five remaining sheets of filo , each brushed with butter. Fold up the edges and brush the top with butter. 

Before baking

Bake at 180c for about 30-40 minutes, until the pastry is golden. 

Serve with a salad.  

Perfect for meatless Monday - served with a simple salad of spinach [yep, more!], home-roasted tomatoes and avocado

The dish was a complete winner with hubby asking for leftovers for lunch [however I am assuming he forgot about the leftover slab of lamb from Sunday night in the fridge!], and Mr12 eating a [small-ish] piece without complaining. That counts as a massive win! 

Thanks Jules!