Tonight I thought I'd try a recipe from a magazine I bought last year. As it is meant for four people, I halved the recipe for just me and Mr. Oso. You can see the recipe here: http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/31517/spinach+cheese+and+egg+pies
As I very rarely follow a recipe exactly, I tweaked as much as I wished too. My version is as follows:
Recipe
Spinach, Ricotta and Egg Pies
Ingredients
Filling:
1 packet of frozen spinach, defrosted in fridge overnight
150 grams ricotta cheese
30 grams grated Pecorino Romano cheese
1 garlic clove, grated
1 teaspoon white pepper
1/2 teaspoon cracked black pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
Pastry:
1 1/2 cups Wholemeal flour
1 x 7g sachet dried yeast
1 tablespoon white sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup of water
Method
Pre-heat oven to 220C.
Squeeze out excess liquid from defrosted spinach and place into a bowl. Add the ricotta cheese, pecorino, grated garlic, peppers and salt and mix well.
In a separate bowl place wholemeal flour, yeast, sugar, and salt. Make a well in centre and add the water. Mix with a blunt butter knife until a soft dough forms and halve the dough. On a floured board roll out one half of the dough into an oval shape about 25cm long.
Place spinach in centre of dough and fold up the sides, squeezing the dough to make it secure. Once sides are folded up, place on a greased oven tray. Make a well in the middle of the spinach dip and crack an egg into it. Bake until pastry is cooked and egg is baked, around 20 - 25 minutes.
Apple and Onion Salad
Ingredients
2 lemons
1 small red onion
baby spinach
splash of olive oil
Method
Squeeze lemon juice into a small bowl, add some water. Take the apple and core it, then slice it in thin wedges, placing the wedges into the lemon-water mix. Make sure each wedge is covered, you can add more water if needed.
Thinly slice the red onion with a mandolin slicer on its thinnest setting.
Place baby spinach, onion and apple on serving plates in alternate layers. drizzle a little bit of olive oil over the salad.
Notes
A small rant:
The trouble with some recipe magazines is that they neglect to list any quantities of water needed in the initial ingredient list, and only list it in the method. I've found this annoying for years. There are places in the world where you can't just turn the tap on and use the water from it without distilling it first, and though I don't live in that situation I think it's stupid not to list water in the initial list. It can also help people make mistakes. Like me, tonight. Even though I mentally halved the amounts I needed of everything, when the recipe stated "add 1 cup of water to flour mix" that is exactly what I did. I didn't realise my mistake until the filling was sitting on the pastry, and by then I was over it and zero f--ks were given, and as it turned out, the pastry was pretty good with the extra water. I guess this might be because I used all wholemeal flour and not a mix of wholemeal and white. Wholemeal flour tends to be a thirsty flour.
Size:
These pies turned out HUGE. I think I could easily half the recipe again and it would be enough food. In that case, it would be an idea to get some quail eggs for smaller pies, or just add the egg beaten into the spinach mix. Carlos and I ended up halving one pie between us and keeping the other for lunches. This pie will definitely be made again, I've already received the request from Mr. Oso.
Ooh, that looks really yummy. I might give that one a go at some stage - I'd like to get my hands into some wholemeal pastry as its so much more nutrient-dense.
ReplyDeleteIt's so easy! Most supermarkets sell wholemeal flour, and you can find it at places like the local Nut and Coffee Shop. Sometimes you find rough bits throughout the flour, but this is what helps lower the glycemic count and boost the fibre content. I recommend you try it - it's so easy with such a great pay off - and the taste is a beautiful nutty, almost brown-sugar flavour that makes you want to go back for more. When you do try it, please report back what you thought!
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